the thing is, beastwood, Jamaica markets a brand. the DR markets a destination. it started with Puerto Plata, and now it is Punta Cana.ever since the 60s, we have all heard songs like The Banana Boat Song, and Take Me To Jamaica Where The Rum Comes From. the DR is trying to market white sands and 5 star hotels, which everybody has. the DR has suffered, in part, by entering the game at a late stage, and rushing the process without planning. it is now operating in crisis response mode, to resurrect POP, which cannot be done. it will have to be reinvented. serious planning will have to be done, and it will have to be undertaken by well trained, insightful professionals. sadly, i see the research grant from IADB going into the pockets of political hacks and their enablers, and some half assed "study" will prescribe some dimwitted, confused recommendations which will do more harm than good.
Jamaica and Costa Rica yeah those are brands like "GAP" and "Pepsi Cola" both places are hugh players in the tourisms industry. Also in DR they put way too much value in money now matter how the obtain it.
I teach my people in Costa Rica to NOT look at your fellow Tico as competiton your competition is Panama, Dominican Republic, Belize etc. If more tourists make CR their number 1 place for R&R everybody will win in CR The ful time worker and the part time worker I have in CR I make them follow the same standard for customer service that the people in Chicago have to follow: NEVER cheat a customer, NEVER be dishonest with a customer, always be polite, the customer is always RIGHT, NEVER EVER under any circumstance ask for a TIP!!! NEVER. The" live today" way of thinking is something I am working hard to remove out of the Ticos mind.
I read on this board so often people saying "that is how it is done here get used to it" I do not teach my friends in CR because they are not my students I merely show them a different way of doing something they may get them a better result and a quicker result, and I do it with respect.
Dominicans are very "hard headed" they do not enjoy listening or taking advice from someone other then a Dominican. Punta Cana gets old real fast and now they are trying to add Santo Domingo to the experience in Punta Cana, but to do this you have to train Dominicans in Santo Domingo how to host a large group of tourists on a regular basis. I see so many people in the Colonial Zone when a cruise ship comes in looking very bored and not interested in the fact they are in the oldest place in the America and some quickly return to the ship. When Dominicans sit and watch kids harrassing tourists for money it does not paint a nice picture for Santo Domingo. Once a old guy gave a kid 300RD and he ran and showed his friends and next thing you knew the guy was being harrassed by the other kids until a Politur may them go away. My question is why didn't the 50 something people in Parque Colon stop the kids from asking the tourist for money?
American tourists are unlike any tourists on the planet, they believe in a certain way of doing this and they usually DO NOT compromise. If little boys are on the street begging during schools hours, an American will ask" why aren't you in school", if there is a HINT of prostitution most American tourist are turn off by that.
There have been 1000's of American tourist that spent a week in DR once and did not return because Americans DO NOT compromise when their money is involved.
BTW If a tourist want info on DR it will be wise to ask another tourists that have spent a week in DR and NOT an expat because they do not see the DR in the eyes of a tourist they see it as a local, and a person from the USA that decided to make the DR home can NEVER give advice to a tourists because seeing a man with a shotgun is not normal to a tourist from UTAH, but it is as normal as the sun shinning to an expat.