Sosua Is Dying

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Ken

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During the 10 years that I have lived in Sosua, I have never seen it as dead as it is at present. Furthermore, it is my expectation, and hope, that the winter season will be even worse than the past two, and they were bad.

Walking around town, including the road to the beach, many closed business locations are seen. I understand why, since there is nobody on the street, but what I don't understand are the commercial plazas with many rental units, that are nearing completion. You would think that Sosua was thriving rather than in the process of becoming a ghost town, except for the bars where the prostitutes congregate.

Why do I hope that the coming winter season will be a disaster? Not because I want employees to lose their jobs and owners to lose their investments, but that is happening anyway.

What is needed, in my opinion, is a complete collapse of the tourist industry in Sosua to cause owners, townspeople, and the local government to make Sosua a more desirable place for tourists. Personally, I hope that collapse occurs this year, since sooner rather than later is the best hope for Sosua.
 
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rsg

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It' not just Sosua that is hurting..The problems with the economy in the States, Canada etc..., is the biggest reason that places like Sosua are hurting.. Cleaning up a little trash[ hookers included] is not going to save Sosua..
 
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Anastacio

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If you take into account the amount of people who have lost jobs over the last 3 years then the math does add up correctly. Wait it out, it will come good again, sooner or later.
 
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Ken

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rsg said:
It' not just Sosua that is hurting..The problems with the economy in the States, Canada etc..., is the biggest reason that places like Sosua are hurting.. Cleaning up a little trash[ hookers included] is not going to save Sosua..
Click to expand...

By itself, no, but that must be part of it.

And the problem with Sosua is not just the world economy. As long as people believe that, the necessary corrective actions will not be taken.
 
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jrhartley

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a big contributing factor has been dr1 that has had nothing good to say about sosua- even people that have not been here jump on the band wagon


bavaro is the new in place, which means that all the problems will eventually move to that region
 
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Anastacio

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jrhartley said:
a big contributing factor has been dr1 that has had nothing good to say about sosua- even people that have not been here jump on the band wagon
n
Click to expand...


Interesting that you think DR1 has so much influence over an entire towns future, personally I don't.
Sosua has been dealing with some pretty serious occurrences in recent years, not just the odd highstreet scrap, that is enough to make people choose other destinations. I don't think DR1 can be responsible for thugs being thugs. Surely we have to discuss these things, it is in our interests and others to do so.
 
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catcherintherye

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I'm sure there many reasons for the current state of affairs in Sosua, including the world economy, receiving more than its share of mis-representative press, and a few locals who actually want to hasten the town's demise for some self-proclaimed altruistic motive.

The bottom line is, there are some positive steps that can be taken to alleviate the current situation, and used to begin to turn things around. However, as long as there are those individuals who are determined to undermine the positive aspects of this area, and have no interest in lending a helping hand, little progress can be made.

When things become bad enough for people to see the benefit of finally working together on solutions, it just might be too late. I certain hope that does not happen, but I haven't seen a lot of encouraging signs that people are prepared to do anything more than simply p*ss and moan.
 
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jrhartley

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I would iimagine there are worse criminal elements to be found in the major towns of this country, after all that is where all the rich folks live , the coastal town are only where gringos with a limted budget live....if i was a criminal I would target the city
 
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woofsback

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why

sosua...sosua...sosua
the capital of the dominican republic....may as well be
according to some it is the only place in the dr

it gets mentioned more than the 2 biggest cities in the dr
i don't get it...if it's such hell on earth why all the fuss?

if it was such a bad place....
why hasn't the police, military and government wiped it out
how come the locals haven't moved away...
how come the tourists keep coming back...
and don't answer because of the sex trade....that's gettin lame now
 
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yacht chef

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AS I boarded my flight home I thought to my self I have just spent 3500 usd and for what. With that money there are so many places I can go that have so much to offer!!! When I took the rest of my money out of the bank and told the bank lady I was leaving she just did not get why I was going. I was planing on staying another month but I had all I could take. Santiago is not the answer, that is where i was. This place thinks the world owes them something and acts like spoiled little kid when thy don't get what thy want even in the business and restaurants and taxes thy try to rip you off and it is annoying little small **** 20dop here 50dop thair, it gets old fast. Think about it if Mickey mouse robed you and Donald duck asked you for money all the time and Goofy wanted to dance with your girl what would you think about Disney world?
 
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frank recktenwald

frank recktenwald

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One can blame the world economy and the shape it's in has an effect, do agree there but it's not the main reason that this country is going the drain.
Costa Rica is still doing good and Panama and Ecuador have a boom just to name a few.
The problem here is much bigger than just experiencing a bad economy.
First of all the government tries to "milk the tourism cow" with their taxes etc.
Secondly this country is very expensive and doesn't have as much to offer as the ones mentioned above. A Presidente for RD90!!!! In Panama a beer costs you less than a buck!!!!
Thirdly prostitution and delinquency are getting out of hand.
Fourthly one has to deal with a population/police that will take any opportunity to screw a foreigner.
Just to name a few.
 
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catcherintherye

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I certainly don't disagree with anything Frank Recktenwald stated. Corrupt government and police are major factors, and taxes and prices are definitely inflated. Also, there can be no doubt this is a country where gringos are a target.

However, Costa Rica is equally corrupt (that is the only country I have lived in out of the ones mentioned by Frank), the prostitution and criminality there is at a much higher level than here, and more organized, by the way, and if you think gringos are a target here, you simply must see the huge bulls-eye painted on your butt when you disembark in San Jose.

In any event, it is obvious this is not an easy problem to feather out. there are many pieces to the puzzle, and we have to know that we might never put them all together.
 
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Anastacio

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jrhartley said:
I would iimagine there are worse criminal elements to be found in the major towns of this country, after all that is where all the rich folks live , the coastal town are only where gringos with a limted budget live....if i was a criminal I would target the city
Click to expand...

Yes the capital has more sh1t going down in one night than Sosua deals with in over a month, but the capital isn't under the microscope, it is so big with so much going on no one notices anyone else, or cares.
Sosua is a fishbowl. I don't think it needs regeneration, I think it just needs to get the police sorted out, and drive that new hardcore scum away that began arriving about 3 or 4 years ago, when I noticed the change. I don't like looking over my shoulder every 20 yards.
And try to get some real security presence in the town, people are more weary of the police than confident in their protection. A tourist area really needs that more than anything.
 
frank recktenwald

frank recktenwald

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catcherintherye said:
I certainly don't disagree with anything Frank Recktenwald stated. Corrupt government and police are major factors, and taxes and prices are definitely inflated. Also, there can be no doubt this is a country where gringos are a target.

However, Costa Rica is equally corrupt (that is the only country I have lived in out of the ones mentioned by Frank), the prostitution and criminality there is at a much higher level than here, and more organized, by the way, and if you think gringos are a target here, you simply must see the huge bulls-eye painted on your butt when you disembark in San Jose.

In any event, it is obvious this is not an easy problem to feather out. there are many pieces to the puzzle, and we have to know that we might never put them all together.
Click to expand...

You're right about Costa Rica, have lived there also. My apologies for not having more defined it in my previous post about the crime. However Costa Rica has a lot more to offer to the tourists and that's what I meant to explain in my post. The DR just has beaches, putas and tigres!!!!
 
frank recktenwald

frank recktenwald

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woofsback said:
sosua...sosua...sosua
the capital of the dominican republic....may as well be
according to some it is the only place in the dr

it gets mentioned more than the 2 biggest cities in the dr
i don't get it...if it's such hell on earth why all the fuss?

if it was such a bad place....
why hasn't the police, military and government wiped it out
Because that's how THEY make THEIR money
how come the locals haven't moved away...
Where the hell can they go????????
how come the tourists keep coming back...
and don't answer because of the sex trade....that's gettin lame now
But it's true!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
Sorry a lot of them come to play golf.
But what do they do afterwards???? They go look for cueros!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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Robert

Robert

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jrhartley said:
a big contributing factor has been dr1 that has had nothing good to say about sosua- even people that have not been here jump on the band wagon
Click to expand...

I don't know if I should be flattered or not?
If you think we have that much influence, then wow, time to up the ad rates!
Personally, I think it's a ridiculous statement.

Have you ever considered that it might be because we have in % terms, a large amount of posters on the north coast? Or maybe that Sosua is well known as the whore mongering capital of the Dominican Republic and that in itself brings it's own problems etc. It's very rare that whores are associated with going to church and kids playgrounds. Usually it's drugs, crime, drinking, partying etc.

Bottom line, Sosua lost the local market, family or independent traveller business a long time ago. Dominicans avoid it and regard it as a cesspool of foreigners and whores, especially those Dominicans's that can afford to go to Punta Cana, Jarabacoa etc. Yes, local tourism is very much alive and kicking.

Trust me, the problem isn't localized to Sosua.
We have clients in every corner of the country, so I have a pretty good idea of what's going on. Across the board we have seen a massive drop in tourism in various destinations, despite what the Government might tell you.

The tourism industry is hurting in the Santo Domingo, Puerto Plata, La Romana, Santiago, Boca Chica, Juan Dolio, all over.

Yes, Punta Cana has weathered it much better than others.
Why? They have a good product that they can compete with other markets.
As a tourist destination, it's better managed, better marketed and still has momentum and people talking it up. Plus it has a reasonable share of the local tourism market. Yes, LOTS of Dominican middle class and up family's vacation on a regular basis. Long weekend here, 2-3 days there etc. It's BIG business.

The Government is not known for long term planning, especially in the tourism sector. It's more used to putting out fires or throwing money at a problem hoping it fixes itself.

Sosua will only survive if the people that derive their livelihood from Sosua tourism get together and make it happen. Why you have certain Dominicans and mafioso making $$$ from whores and partying, you are going to have a hard time changing the status quo.

Closing the whore bars will not solve the problem, just look at what happened to Boca Chica. It's going to take a long time, lots of planning and lots of community support to turn it around.
 
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