Tourism in DR

franco1111

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May 29, 2013
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Here is an interesting discussion of tourism in the DR and Caribbean in general.

The View from Europe

By David Jessop, Dominican Today senior Op-Ed distributor

In a week in which Caribbean tourism leaders have been meeting in New York to build on the strong growth that much of the industry is now experiencing, it may seem perverse to be writing about the sustainability of Caribbean tourism.

However, there is growing evidence that fundamental structural changes taking place globally in the industry are likely to raise new questions about the social and economic value tourism brings.

Tourism is increasingly a price-based commodity, benefitting mainly those who own its supply: the hotels, the airlines and cruise ships, and the industry’s multifaceted marketing operations. The commercial opportunity that economic globalisation offers is leading rapidly to consolidation, resulting in an industry dominated by a very few powerful brands, and the homogenisation of the product within specific price categories. The consequence is that before long what is on offer will become hard to differentiate with the owners of the ‘hardware’ offering similar experiences in all warm-water destinations whether they be in the Maldives, Fiji, Barbados or the Dominican Republic.

This suggests that the unless the Caribbean – the owner of the ‘software,’ for want of a better description – can successfully differentiate itself, it will find it increasingly difficult to grow the value, own or retrain its share of the global market.

By common, if sometimes grudging consent, tourism has in recent years become the most significant Caribbean-wide economic activity. It is now an indispensable economic force, generating taxes, foreign exchange, and employment. It has the proven ability to turn Caribbean economies around rapidly. Its contribution to Caribbean GDP is substantial. Figures from the World Travel and Tourism Council for 2017 indicate that the industry’s total contribution was US$57.1bn (15.2 per cent of GDP), is forecast to rise by 3.3% in 2018. It now provides 13.8% of total employment (2.5m jobs) and US$7.1bn or 13 per cent of total investment.

Up to now the response of Governments to capturing value has largely been to stimulate the supply side of the industry and by extension the number of visitor arrivals. This has involved encouraging ever larger foreign investments in up-scale resorts – Baha Mar in the Bahamas is a good example – incentivising new airlift to open new source markets, finding new ways to encourage cruise ships calls, and through the provision of extensive marketing support. It is an approach Governments have been able to justify because it enables them to tax an ever-larger numbers of arriving visitors.

Unfortunately, it is a strategy that has done little to address the pitiably low level of retention of the tourism dollar within the Caribbean economy.

Recent research indicates that of each tourism dollar spent within the region just US$0.15 cents at the low end and US$0.40 cents at the high end remains, meaning that tourism consumption by visitors continues to vastly outpace local production, with host countries failing to absorb and benefit from the domestic demand it could create.

This cannot be right. Tourism in the Caribbean should be harnessed in such a way that it becomes less about numbers and more about delivering lasting nation-wide social and economic growth. That is to say, be of greater benefit to the small and medium-size businesses and individuals who make up 80% of the industry in the region; result in genuine human resource development; enable many more Caribbean people to graduate to management positions; and be encouraged to promote an authentic national identity in all that it offers to visitors.

Unfortunately, there are relatively few individuals in the region giving serious thought to the long-term future of the industry and how it might utilise its present earning capacity to create a sustainable social and economic base far into the future. Just as surprisingly in a region that places a high value on ideas and debate, there is little debate or strategic understanding of the social and economic implications for the Caribbean of the changes taking place in the global tourism market.

Typically, if tourism is thought about much in a Caribbean context, it is seen either through the social lens of 1960s and 1970s academia, that related the industry then, with some justification, to servitude; or more recently as a sector requiring the attention of those in business, management, or in tourism schools who seek greater industry efficiency.

Discussing this recently with Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, and several of the regions more thoughtful industry professionals, it becomes clear that they now believe that if the region is unable any longer to control the supply side of the industry, the region’s future emphasis must be on securing control of the supply side or the software.

In this respect Minister Bartlett is quite unlike his counterparts in the region. He believes passionately that the Caribbean can no longer take for granted its position as a premier global destination and feels that the industry must expand its international market share by ensuring tourism is deeply rooted in the region’s culture and is made more beneficial to local communities.

In practical terms, he suggests that the region must now work to determine how to obtain the maximum social benefit from the sector, and capture more of the tourism dollar though much greater economic integration. He also believes that for the region to continue to benefit from tourism it must find ways to ensure that Caribbean’s cultural uniqueness is infused into all that is offered to visitors.

It is a form of economic nationalism that recognises that in the face of globalisation, small nations need to retain and find ways of leveraging their identity to the long-term value of their own people.

To this end, Jamaica is now well advanced with its plans to open in September a Global Centre for Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management linked to the University of the West Indies. It is intended to support new thinking through research and the communication of best practice. As a first step it will publish research on the future of the industry and disseminate information on how its benefits can be spread more broadly to workers and local communities. It is already garnering international support.

Given the new dimensions of tourism, it is a development thats time has come.

David Jessop is a consultant to the Caribbean Council and can be contacted at

david.jessop@caribbean-council.org

Previous columns can be found at https://www.caribbean-council.org/research-analysis/

June 8th, 2018


https://dominicantoday.com/dr/opinion/2018/06/08/the-new-dimensions-of-tourism/
 

the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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Here is an interesting discussion of tourism in the DR and Caribbean in general.

The View from Europe

By David Jessop, Dominican Today senior Op-Ed distributor

In a week in which Caribbean tourism leaders have been meeting in New York to build on the strong growth that much of the industry is now experiencing, it may seem perverse to be writing about the sustainability of Caribbean tourism.

However, there is growing evidence that fundamental structural changes taking place globally in the industry are likely to raise new questions about the social and economic value tourism brings.

Tourism is increasingly a price-based commodity, benefitting mainly those who own its supply: the hotels, the airlines and cruise ships, and the industry’s multifaceted marketing operations. The commercial opportunity that economic globalisation offers is leading rapidly to consolidation, resulting in an industry dominated by a very few powerful brands, and the homogenisation of the product within specific price categories. The consequence is that before long what is on offer will become hard to differentiate with the owners of the ‘hardware’ offering similar experiences in all warm-water destinations whether they be in the Maldives, Fiji, Barbados or the Dominican Republic.

This suggests that the unless the Caribbean – the owner of the ‘software,’ for want of a better description – can successfully differentiate itself, it will find it increasingly difficult to grow the value, own or retrain its share of the global market.

By common, if sometimes grudging consent, tourism has in recent years become the most significant Caribbean-wide economic activity. It is now an indispensable economic force, generating taxes, foreign exchange, and employment. It has the proven ability to turn Caribbean economies around rapidly. Its contribution to Caribbean GDP is substantial. Figures from the World Travel and Tourism Council for 2017 indicate that the industry’s total contribution was US$57.1bn (15.2 per cent of GDP), is forecast to rise by 3.3% in 2018. It now provides 13.8% of total employment (2.5m jobs) and US$7.1bn or 13 per cent of total investment.

Up to now the response of Governments to capturing value has largely been to stimulate the supply side of the industry and by extension the number of visitor arrivals. This has involved encouraging ever larger foreign investments in up-scale resorts – Baha Mar in the Bahamas is a good example – incentivising new airlift to open new source markets, finding new ways to encourage cruise ships calls, and through the provision of extensive marketing support. It is an approach Governments have been able to justify because it enables them to tax an ever-larger numbers of arriving visitors.

Unfortunately, it is a strategy that has done little to address the pitiably low level of retention of the tourism dollar within the Caribbean economy.

Recent research indicates that of each tourism dollar spent within the region just US$0.15 cents at the low end and US$0.40 cents at the high end remains, meaning that tourism consumption by visitors continues to vastly outpace local production, with host countries failing to absorb and benefit from the domestic demand it could create.

This cannot be right. Tourism in the Caribbean should be harnessed in such a way that it becomes less about numbers and more about delivering lasting nation-wide social and economic growth. That is to say, be of greater benefit to the small and medium-size businesses and individuals who make up 80% of the industry in the region; result in genuine human resource development; enable many more Caribbean people to graduate to management positions; and be encouraged to promote an authentic national identity in all that it offers to visitors.

Unfortunately, there are relatively few individuals in the region giving serious thought to the long-term future of the industry and how it might utilise its present earning capacity to create a sustainable social and economic base far into the future. Just as surprisingly in a region that places a high value on ideas and debate, there is little debate or strategic understanding of the social and economic implications for the Caribbean of the changes taking place in the global tourism market.

Typically, if tourism is thought about much in a Caribbean context, it is seen either through the social lens of 1960s and 1970s academia, that related the industry then, with some justification, to servitude; or more recently as a sector requiring the attention of those in business, management, or in tourism schools who seek greater industry efficiency.

Discussing this recently with Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, and several of the regions more thoughtful industry professionals, it becomes clear that they now believe that if the region is unable any longer to control the supply side of the industry, the region’s future emphasis must be on securing control of the supply side or the software.

In this respect Minister Bartlett is quite unlike his counterparts in the region. He believes passionately that the Caribbean can no longer take for granted its position as a premier global destination and feels that the industry must expand its international market share by ensuring tourism is deeply rooted in the region’s culture and is made more beneficial to local communities.

In practical terms, he suggests that the region must now work to determine how to obtain the maximum social benefit from the sector, and capture more of the tourism dollar though much greater economic integration. He also believes that for the region to continue to benefit from tourism it must find ways to ensure that Caribbean’s cultural uniqueness is infused into all that is offered to visitors.

It is a form of economic nationalism that recognises that in the face of globalisation, small nations need to retain and find ways of leveraging their identity to the long-term value of their own people.

To this end, Jamaica is now well advanced with its plans to open in September a Global Centre for Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management linked to the University of the West Indies. It is intended to support new thinking through research and the communication of best practice. As a first step it will publish research on the future of the industry and disseminate information on how its benefits can be spread more broadly to workers and local communities. It is already garnering international support.

Given the new dimensions of tourism, it is a development thats time has come.

David Jessop is a consultant to the Caribbean Council and can be contacted at

david.jessop@caribbean-council.org

Previous columns can be found at https://www.caribbean-council.org/research-analysis/

June 8th, 2018


https://dominicantoday.com/dr/opinion/2018/06/08/the-new-dimensions-of-tourism/

thanks for the article. Eddie Bartlett, the Minister of Tourism in Jamaica, is a very good friend of mind, and a very forward thinker, who has always believed in quality as opposed to quality. tourism in the caribbean is at a dead end insofar as the islands are concerned. it is high time that some serious minds address the issues, instead of advocating more of the same....
 

Drak

Member
Jul 7, 2015
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Indeed

Buy, bulldoze, build, cut-it-down, wall-it-in, make-it-bigger.

Along with local culture, an increased focus to maintain some of the reamining natural areas, flora and fauna, would be good too.
 

chico bill

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May 6, 2016
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Everything is cyclical - Tourism hot spots become ghost towns and then may become hot again.
I first came to Punta Cana in 2000 - the place was ramping up development sure but it with some local flare and several AI hotels.
The beaches were sandy and clean and the water a clear beautiful blue and the hotels were very affordable. I drove across the island last year for a week and for whatever reason the beaches are now covered in seaweed and the water so full of it swimming is not a pleasant experience (almost impossible for kids to wade out). Is this because the number of AIs have done something to the water ?
But the quaint local charm factor is gone (for me) - People will still continue to come but the prices are not as appealing and if the seaweed problem continues I expect fewer people will want to return.
This year my beach experience other than Playa Grande and Sosua will be Playa Russo and a trip to Barranquilla in Colombia, which will cost about the same as a week in Punta Cana.

Tourism is cyclical, nothing lasts forever - San Francisco, Acapulco, Mazatlan are some examples
 

the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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Everything is cyclical - Tourism hot spots become ghost towns and then may become hot again.
I first came to Punta Cana in 2000 - the place was ramping up development sure but it with some local flare and several AI hotels.
The beaches were sandy and clean and the water a clear beautiful blue and the hotels were very affordable. I drove across the island last year for a week and for whatever reason the beaches are now covered in seaweed and the water so full of it swimming is not a pleasant experience (almost impossible for kids to wade out). Is this because the number of AIs have done something to the water ?
But the quaint local charm factor is gone (for me) - People will still continue to come but the prices are not as appealing and if the seaweed problem continues I expect fewer people will want to return.
This year my beach experience other than Playa Grande and Sosua will be Playa Russo and a trip to Barranquilla in Colombia, which will cost about the same as a week in Punta Cana.

Tourism is cyclical, nothing lasts forever - San Francisco, Acapulco, Mazatlan are some examples

it is not as simple as you make it seem. tourism is becoming a homogenous product, because, like everything on earth, it is the victim of corporate commoditization. so, if you go to an all inclusive in Costa Rica you might as well be in one in Punta Cana or one in Ocho Rios or one in Indonesia. the same corporations own them all, and the only thinking is profit maximisation. in 1980, a Chinese citizen had never been a tourist. now they supply over 10 million per year to the travel business. the days of creativity are over...it is not cost effective, given the current paradigms.
 

carlos

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May 29, 2002
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Please stay on topic and keep it DR related.

No exceptions.

Thanks 
 

carlos

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With all due respect, the original post has nothing to do with the DR.



More Caribbean but can be applicable to the DR depending on where the next few posts take us.
 

keepcoming

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May 25, 2011
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As much as I enjoy mini getaways to Punta Cana I must say that it is beginning to feel overrun with resorts. We are going in a couple of weeks to see friends. Going to try the Westin which is not a AI. The mindset seems to be in Punta Cana, build them (resorts) and they (tourists) will come.
 

ljmesg

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Aug 6, 2017
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This cannot be right. Tourism in the Caribbean should be harnessed in such a way that it becomes less about numbers and more about delivering lasting nation-wide social and economic growth. That is to say, be of greater benefit to the small and medium-size businesses and individuals who make up 80% of the industry in the region; result in genuine human resource development; enable many more Caribbean people to graduate to management positions; and be encouraged to promote an authentic national identity in all that it offers to visitors.

This is a polyanic phallacy. Take the DR for instance. Less than 5% of kids that attend high school graduate. The DR does very little to promote education of its own citizens. The teachers here do not know how to teach or even what to teach at grade school levels. If the government doesn't want to improve "human resource development" how can anyone expect tourism dollars to do it.

Unfortunately, there are relatively few individuals in the region giving serious thought to the long-term future of the industry and how it might utilise its present earning capacity to create a sustainable social and economic base far into the future.
First find a way to stop the politicos from stealing all the money then you will have some funds to create an economic base. The economic base in the DR is corruption.

In this respect Minister Bartlett is quite unlike his counterparts in the region. He believes passionately that the Caribbean can no longer take for granted its position as a premier global destination and feels that the industry must expand its international market share by ensuring tourism is deeply rooted in the region’s culture and is made more beneficial to local communities.
This is laughable. Ideally sure. Practically never happening. Think about all the "local communities" between Puerta Plata and Nagua. Again, the pols stealing every penny they can and the communities burning tires and blocking Highway 5 every now and again in protest and nothing changes.

In practical terms, he suggests that the region must now work to determine how to obtain the maximum social benefit from the sector, and capture more of the tourism dollar though much greater economic integration.
Hmmm, economic integration....hmmm. Any money is economically integrated into the pockets of the corrupt officials.

What's needed is a form of economic nationalism that recognises that in the face of globalisation, small nations need to retain and find ways of leveraging their identity to the long-term value of their own people.
Good Luck.

Given the new dimensions of tourism, it is a development thats time has come.

Signed, Alice in Wonderland
 

franco1111

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May 29, 2013
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More Caribbean but can be applicable to the DR depending on where the next few posts take us.

Of course it is applicable to the DR given the DR's dependence in some areas on the tourist industry and government's interest in promoting it.

And, without making any other more complicated explanation, here is a quote from the article. "The consequence is that before long what is on offer will become hard to differentiate with the owners of the ‘hardware’ offering similar experiences in all warm-water destinations whether they be in the Maldives, Fiji, Barbados or the Dominican Republic."
 

Jumbo

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I might be wrong but seems most of the tourist in the Dom Rep are European or Canadian. Not many charters from the USA. Flights coming from the US are full of Dominicans spending money locally. These are the same that send remittances. So for the AI’s it is a matter of getting charter flights in and out of the tourist airports. Most tourist want a direct flight and Cancun does a good job at courting them. In the early 90’s Auruba had a big charter/travel agent clientele in Boston. Not so big anymore. With the choices out there many go to a DR AI once. My friends had nothing good to say except the beach was nice. All went to Punta Cana against my warning. 

Bottom line is. The resort offering the best food and service at a fair price would be what my crowd of people are looking for. I have friends dropping 30K at Beaches T&C for a family of 4 and others settling in Barbados with a time share. With the internet and more information there are many places to go other than AI’s. Let’s see what the millennials go for in the upcoming years. I doubt with the information out there the DR will be their first choice......
 
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www.rentalmetrocountry.com
The DR mostly has AI hotels and that only attracts the cheapos who hardly spend any money outside the gates.
To be honest the DR has not much to offer besides beautiful beaches and golf. :ermm:
Sorry I forgot the beautiful chicas. ;)
 

windeguy

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Jul 10, 2004
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I might be wrong but seems most of the tourist in the Dom Rep are European or Canadian. Not many charters from the USA. Flights coming from the US are full of Dominicans spending money locally. These are the same that send remittances. So for the AI’s it is a matter of getting charter flights in and out of the tourist airports. Most tourist want a direct flight and Cancun does a good job at courting them. In the early 90’s Auruba had a big charter/travel agent clientele in Boston. Not so big anymore. With the choices out there many go to a DR AI once. My friends had nothing good to say except the beach was nice. All went to Punta Cana against my warning. 

Bottom line is. The resort offering the best food and service at a fair price would be what my crowd of people are looking for. I have friends dropping 30K at Beaches T&C for a family of 4 and others settling in Barbados with a time share. With the internet and more information there are many places to go other than AI’s. Let’s see what the millennials go for in the upcoming years. I doubt with the information out there the DR will be their first choice......

The best food and service is not in general the DR. There is one resort I can think of that is up to that.

The writer quoted in the first post is dreaming in Technicolor if he thinks the current tourism business will leave more money in country. If the governments make such rules, the companies will just focus on other countries. What is new today is old tomorrow. The DR should enjoy its popularity while it can.
 
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the gorgon

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The best food and service is not in general the DR. There is one resort I can think of that is up to that.

The writer quoted in the first post is dreaming in Technicolor if he thinks the current tourism business will leave more money in country. If the governments make such rules, the companies will just focus on other countries. What is new today is old tomorrow. The DR should enjoy its popularity while it can.

absolutely true. there is the little matter of the tourism life cycle, which concludes that when the popolarity of a tourist destination wanes, it never recovers. the big problem that land based tourism has is cruise ships....
 

Dov1984

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Sep 18, 2016
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The DR mostly has AI hotels and that only attracts the cheapos who hardly spend any money outside the gates.
To be honest the DR has not much to offer besides beautiful beaches and golf. :ermm:
Sorry I forgot the beautiful chicas. ;)
While I somewhat agree with you regarding the Ali's I feel that is mostly down in Punta Cana, where they tell you not to leave the resort due to danger. My first 2 trips to the DR were roughly 15 years ago both in Punta Cana. AI's aren't my thing I am daring & adventurous. After doing some research I with my daughter hit an AI on the north coast then another year at Lifestyle Costambar. Again not really my thing but We did venture out on excursions. I felt safer staying at AI's with my daughter plus other family. Finally after research and just liking the north coast plus a long overdue divorce, I with my brother decided to go to Cabarete. I have since been to Cabarete 8 years or so in a row. I love it, my daughter is older and joins me for a week or so, my job allows me to stay for a longer period. I find the north coast offers a ton of things to do kiteboarding, surfing, windsurfing, snorkeling, scuba diving, deep seafishing plus adventures out into the 27 Damajaquas, Magic mushroom, blue lagoon, plus much more just in the Cabarete area. The last few years I have wandered out into the Samana peninsula. Staying in Las Terranes, Las Galres, and Samana itself. I think it is beyond amazing an beautiful. Plus there are many great excursions or just hitting unspoiled beaches. The last 2 years we have gone whale watching, this year we swam with whales which is one of the best things I have ever experienced. I constantly tell anyone who is discussing where to go on vacation to hit the north coast. I love Cabarete, to me for Foodies it is a paradise. I am in the process of gaining residency and with some luck will be spending 6 or more monthes each year in Cabarete.

Sent from my SM-T550 using Tapatalk
 

keepcoming

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May 25, 2011
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Punta Cana caters to those who want everything within the gates of the resort. Fun, food, drinks, pool, beaches, everything a bracelet can get you. But there are those who want to explore the country beyond the gates. And that is where maybe the DR is lacking in with advertising.
 

DRDone

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Sep 29, 2014
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Let's see where this goes. I think the DR potential to have extraordinary value and differentiate itself from other locations is great. The commoditization of the travel industry is due to the desire of the present traveler to sit on the beach and do nothing else. Why go to one of the most dangerous places on Earth to do that (yes that's the DR).
What the DR does offer is unreal natural beauty, going from beautiful beaches to 11,000 foot elevations, to potential hiking, to whale watching to kite surfing, to almost anything. This does not have the feel of a small island and differentiation would be easy. If you offered a 1 or 2 week tour across the country that would be a dream vacation. The problem is the towns and the culture and the overall corruption of government and pretty much all the people. I'll leave it at that, but in terms of the DR being able to differentiate itself by the nature of the country, there are a million ways to do that. Now it is just allowing for those ideas to flourish without getting robbed blind (both tourists and investors).
 

GringoRubio

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Oct 15, 2015
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When American's say "like to travel", it usually means the vacation experience where the most stressful part is losing your lounge chair close to the bar. While the concept is still in the wishful thinking stages, usually some website like priceline or similar markets a clickable package that puts the whole "Caribbean" experience into a 9 day / 8 night with plenty of lounge chairs and no need to venture further than the AI buffet. I run into Americans at the airport claiming to love the DR, but they'd just like to find some local money to bring home.

15% sounds about right if not a little high. I think of the cruise ship docking with 1% going for excursions.

When I explain how I travel with a backpack, no plan, and taking local transport, nobody gets it except for Europeans and Australians. I've given up even bothering trying to explain it to Americans.

(I admit I thought of the lowly chica while I read that. Although I don't endorse prostitution, I can't help admire somebody who figures out how to put 95% of every tourist dollar spent back into the economy.)