Santo Domingo. – Popular Dominican Republic Resort destination Punta Cana ranks in the top three of the most overwhelming tourist towns in the world in a new report by Radical Storage. A 2025 survey analyzed a staggering 97,409 reviews from travelers in the world’s 100 most visited cities, revealing a major disconnect between the often depicted idyllic images and the actual experiences of visitors.
Famous for its numerous comprehensive resorts and stunning beaches, Punta Cana came third on the list. This report highlights several important factors that contribute to this frustration, including lack of reliability, insufficient infrastructure issues, and the presence of aggressive vendors.
A quote from tourists in the report states that “countries that take all the dollars you have and then charge you to leave.” This sentiment highlights the sentiment among visitors that the Punta Cana tourist experience is overly focused on deriving the greatest financial benefits at the expense of authentic hospitality and value. Additionally, the city has the highest percentage of negative reviews mentioning rude services, accounting for 1.8% of feedback.
The list of overwhelming destinations tops was in Cancun, Mexico, number one spot, with Antalya in Türkiye ranked second. Cancun faced criticism for fraud, bloated prices and lack of reliability, but Antarya was flagged for excessive commercial and crowded beaches. Other cities in the top five include Beijing, China and Orlando, USA, indicating that tourist disappointment stems from a variety of factors across different types of destinations.
The Radical Storage report suggests that today’s travelers are heavily influenced by carefully curated social media content and online travel guides, often arriving with high expectations. Disappointment can be important if the reality of the destination does not live up to these idealized images.
The Punta Cana findings may consider ways among local tourism authorities and businesses to better coordinate visitor experiences with international traveller expectations and address specific concerns raised in the report.
