Staying Safe And Sound In Dominica

The director of tourism for Dominica says visiting Canadians needn’t fear that a Dominica vacation will be a confining experience during these days of the coronavirus pandemic.

Colin Piper told a Sept. 4 webinar that Dominica has placed Canada into the “medium” category when it comes to ranking countries on how well they’ve handled the pandemic.

“Even as a medium classified country … you do have a lot of freedom (when visiting Dominica),” Piper said, adding there’s no need for Canadians to “despair…

“We’re keeping you safe and sound.”

Dominica reopened to international travellers in August and has implemented numerous measures to safeguard locals and visitors from coronavirus, including sanitizing the luggage of visitors.

Piper said tourists who test positive for the virus after arriving on the island will then be relocated to an isolation unit that he said would be similar to being hospitalized.

Hans and Lise Schilders, owners of the island’s The Champs Hotel, said that property has trained staff on anti-coronavirus steps and has stepped up cleaning and brought in social distancing measures.

“Everybody’s very relaxed and cool about it,” Lise said.

Dominica labels itself the Nature Island and Lise said most The Champs guests come for birdwatching or scuba diving. Piiper said dive groups often consist of families or people travelling together, rather than strangers intermingling and risking spreading coronavirus.

Viewers were also told by Jerry Grymek of LMA Communications –which represents Dominica in this country — that Dominica has the best hiking in the Caribbean.

The island appeared in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

Among other hotels found on Dominica is a Kempinski.