There is a lot of tourism discussion on this board, and I thought I'd weigh in instead of troll for information. I am a tourist that has been to PC and Sosua. I am in no way an expert. I've spent a total of 4 weeks in DR, but I've been travelling in Latin American and the Caribbean for 12 years.
I think the post above about the type of tourist is a bigger deciding factor in a tourist destination choice than is often recognized. The driving force between being tourist number 1 that's wanting to experience something different and tourist number 2 who wants to reside in a AI 1 stop shop on a pretty beach is safety. I prefer to be tourist number 1 but I've considered never going to Sosua again for reasons I'll get to, but here are my general opinions.
1st, the reputation for safety is really bad. My friends and co-workers know that I travel and they will ask me for advice on places. Most US tourists I talk to are too afraid not to stay at a AI in DR. I've recommended to the north coast to friends, and they think I'm crazy for going to Sosua and Cabarete. They say if they went at all it would be to a AI in POP. A friend I've travelled off the AI beaten path a little with in Mexico refuses to go with me. He prefers to return to Mexico because he thinks the cartels just kill each other there and in the DR its open season on locals and tourists alike. Even though, he has little faith in the police there, he believes the federales and navy will keep the tourists safe as a priority.
2nd, the police in the DR do not inspire confidence. While police corruption is endemic throughout Latin American and the Caribbean, the police in the DR have a particularly bad wrap which I don't think it completely undeserved. Once again, 4 weeks is a small sample size, but I don't really see them do much even the PN which you would think would be the most professional but it appears to be the opposite. They should address the panhandlers, pick pockets, and dealers in some way.
Think of it from a tourist standpoint. You see a guy wrestle with a pick pocket and police within eyeshot do nothing. A typical tourist thinks I'm out of here. They'll just let you get attacked
You see panhandlers going up and down the street approaching tourists and the police do nothing. The average tourist thinks There is serious third world desperation here. This is not a safe place
When you pass by a row of guys and every one asks you if you want some dope, a tourist thinks This is so out in the open that it isn't safe here. Let's be honest. A lot of tourist like dope or those guys wouldn't be there, and there are those guys in every tourist town, but they should limit the amount of them. Generally speaking local organized crime usually limits the amount of them, but there seems to be nothing organized in the DR.
3rd. The whores. They are really less a major factor in driving away tourism than most people think. One thing, most tourists don't know they are there in other tourist towns unless they are the kind of tourist that is looking for it. The girls in Sosua really aren't that aggressive. Personally, I thought the ladies were much more aggressive in Costa Rica. I just don't stop in the bars they frequent, and I don't talk to them in the street. They rarely say anything to me. Every tourist town that I have ever been to has hookers by the truckload. Jaco in CR is easily as big a whore town as Sosua, but I've known groups of women and couples that travel there. Why? Because it's perceived as safe. In Cancun, there are strip clubs/whorehouses a block off Ave Kukulkan in the tourist zone and in Cabo San Lucas, they are mixed right in with the tourist bars/clubs. Most tourists don't know because they don't see scantly clad women twerking in the street. They just see a neon sign and think strip club. The issue in Sosua is that its right out in the open and on the same street non-sex tourists want to hang out on. Make the girls go inside or clear off. Don't keep them out in the street. The glass going up at the clubs was a good idea. You put them out of sight and then you kick them out in the street. It makes no sense, and when you combine hookers with pick pockets, drug dealers, and beggers, tourists don't feel safe. Most tourists would accept any of the 4 on the streets in limited numbers but the public concentration at that one intersection in Sosua is crazy. As a tourist, you feel like you're running a gauntlet if you have to walk through there.
4th. I hate that I feel this way, but I sometimes feel that some locals in Sosua don't even want tourists around. I've had a much more welcoming feeling in PC. It seems that collectively people there understand that taking care of the tourist in terms of safety and entertainment and supporting that industry is in everybody's best interest. In Sosua, I don't get the same feeling as much. In other towns when there is an crime committed against a tourists, business owners come out in droves to ensure the police take severe action because they don't want it to hurt their business. They have the most to lose or gain from tourism. There is a screw over the rich tourist in any tourist town but in Sosua, I really get that feeling. It's probably mostly due to already being on edge for the reasons cited above. It also might be that some local people think that all the tourists that come there are there to exploit, get high, and take advantage of the women and they put off that vibe. Either way, those two types of tourists are going to exist. The strange thing is, that in Sosua, people seem to think that they can exist on the same street and I don't think they can. If those activities were separated by even two blocks, you have a whole different nightlife scene and you could police and control it effectively.
I know that's a book of negativity, but I do like the north coast. I'll probably return because I really like the beach scene and uniqueness. The beach scene is really great, and it's near a access point like POP. I kind of think of Sosua as more dangerous wild west version of Isla Mujeres. Anyways, I wanted to share one tourist's opinion.
