Liens against hotels harm Dominican Republic’s image: Hoteliers

Santo Domingo.- Dominican Republic’s Hotels and Tourism Association (ASONAHORES) on Tuesday warned of the resurgence of what it calls as assault-liens on hotels and urged "decisive action" by the Supreme Court, the Justice Ministry and National Police to eradicate the practice.

It said their request was prompted by a violent "lien" at lodging with high occupancy of foreign tourists last week, but averted by Tourism Police agents and officials of the San Pedro Office of the Prosecutor.

The hoteliers note that the liens results from "adulterated procedures in judicialprocesses, because couort officials and members of the police are provided for these actions, which are carried out with violence, and pose a dangerous threat to the country’s image and tourism."

ASONAHORES adds that it’s a repeated story, mainly the result of labor litigation, “marked by irregular citations or “in the air," leading to hearings where defendants aren’t present.