Dominican Republic Resort Temporarily Closes After Alleged Assault of American Tourist

After the alleged assault of a Delaware woman, the Majestic Elegance Punta Cana resort is temporarily closing due to “low occupancy.”

“I was kicked in the head, I was beaten with a club, and then strangled again for the kill,” Tammy Lawrence-Daley of Wilmington said on Facebook, with accompanying pictures of her various injuries. The post went viral, shared nearly 150,000 times on the social network.

According to the Delaware News Journal, Lawrence-Daley has filed a $3 million lawsuit against the resort. She is seeking compensation for “economic, as much as physical and moral” damages caused by the “violent and criminal physical attack and rape.”

In the wake of the attack, the resort has seen an 85 percent decline in bookings and expects a 60 percent decrease in the months to come. The resort has publicly blamed journalists for their misfortune, accusing them of blowing “isolated issues” out of proportion.

Still, the Majestic Elegance will, according to a statement, “[take] this issue as an opportunity to rethink and improve for the future.” But it is not just this resort fighting a downturn. The Dominican Republic at large has experienced significant turmoil within its otherwise booming tourist industry after the deaths of several American travelers.