Puerto Plata prostitution and its effect on the local economy

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Estrelleta44

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Everyone here probably already know of the reputation of Sosua and Cabarete.....Prostitution.

Lets get straight to the point - Sosua and Cabarete used to be great vacation spots for families but now have been taken over by the Sex tourism crowd and all the evils that follow said group. We all have heard of the mistreatment and quite frequent sexual abuse the prostitutes/minors face by the hands of the costumers and authorities.
After the signing of new contracts with foreign investors the government is now looking to turn Puerto Plata into a high class tourist destination https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FECL11XRkc
With this new found interest from investors on the zone, the debate on prostitution and its effects on the population has been renewed. Recently a DR news station did a report on whether we should change the laws on prostitution, its effects on the local economy , who visits these locations looking for sex , what do the prostitutes think of the situation and what the government is doing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvAyM-I7GaA
For those who do not have the time to watch a 20 min video here is what we learn:
1)Effect on the local economy
after the family friendly tourism died down due to the spread of prostitution the province Lost ~7,000 jobs, government revenue and caused the closing of over 7,000 hotel rooms. This pushes the local women and some men into prostitution.
2)Who ?
The grand majority of the sex tourists are African American men with a minority of Europeans. As for the prostitutes, many are of Haitian origin and well as women from other provinces of the DR.
3)why do they do it?
as to no surprise they do it for their kids and some of are sent forcefully by their husbands/boyfriends.
4)what do the local women think of the current situation?
women do not want to go out during night time alone or accompanied due to the harassment of the sex tourists who believe that all the women are prostitutes.

My personal opinion: As a Dominican i believe that Sosua and Cabarete need to be cleaned up and returned to its former self as it provides higher development and higher revenue to everyone involved including the locals. right now you search up Sosua on Youtube and all you will see is perverts promoting sosua as a "haven" for sick individuals looking for cheap sex and spreading thuggish behavior. some of which come here looking for minors. It is honestly a shame and would feel sorry if the Jewish refugees who founded said town knew what their haven has been turned into.
i for once am happy that the government seems to finally be planning to clean Puerto Plata. Knowing the background of most of these "tourists" i know for a fact that they will soon start using their favorite R-Card and once again blame us of R.....
 
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the gorgon

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Estrelleta44 said:
Everyone here probably already know of the reputation of Sosua and Cabarete.....Prostitution.

Lets get straight to the point - Sosua and Cabarete used to be great vacation spots for families but now have been taken over by the Sex tourism crowd and all the evils that follow said group. We all have heard of the mistreatment and quite frequent sexual abuse the prostitutes/minors face by the hands of the costumers and authorities.
After the signing of new contracts with foreign investors the government is now looking to turn Puerto Plata into a high class tourist destination https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FECL11XRkc
With this new found interest from investors on the zone, the debate on prostitution and its effects on the population has been renewed. Recently a DR news station did a report on whether we should change the laws on prostitution, its effects on the local economy , who visits these locations looking for sex , what do the prostitutes think of the situation and what the government is doing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvAyM-I7GaA
For those who do not have the time to watch a 20 min video here is what we learn:
1)Effect on the local economy
after the family friendly tourism died down due to the spread of prostitution the province Lost ~7,000 jobs, government revenue and caused the closing of over 7,000 hotel rooms. This pushes the local women and some men into prostitution.
2)Who ?
The grand majority of the sex tourists are African American men with a minority of Europeans. As for the prostitutes, many are of Haitian origin and well as women from other provinces of the DR.
3)why do they do it?
as to no surprise they do it for their kids and some of are sent forcefully by their husbands/boyfriends.
4)what do the local women think of the current situation?
women do not want to go out during night time alone or accompanied due to the harassment of the sex tourists who believe that all the women are prostitutes.

My personal opinion: As a Dominican i believe that Sosua and Cabarete need to be cleaned up and returned to its former self as it provides higher development and higher revenue to everyone involved including the locals. right now you search up Sosua on Youtube and all you will see is perverts promoting sosua as a "haven" for sick individuals looking for cheap sex and spreading thuggish behavior. some of which come here looking for minors. It is honestly a shame and would feel sorry if the Jewish refugees who founded said town knew what their haven has been turned into.
i for once am happy that the government seems to finally be planning to clean Puerto Plata. Knowing the background of most of these "tourists" i know for a fact that they will soon start using their favorite R-Card and once again blame us of R.....
Click to expand...

is this a spoof? the GRAND majority of mongers are African American? really? would these people who make these assertions care to provide data? numbers?

how about a timeline? when did family friendly tourism die down in Sosua? did it have any coincidence with the ascendancy of Punta Cana?

the suggestion in these observations is that African Americans killed family tourism in Sosua. so, since not too many African Americans frequented Playa Dorada for purposes of participating in prostitution activities, to what do you attribute the collapse of Playa Dorada and other tourist facilities in the village of Puerto Plata proper?
 
Robert

Robert

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If you feel so passionately about the current status of Sosua and POP, I suggest you take on the corrupt local officials, politicians and business people that have allowed this to happen. Get a woman's group to protest nightly in the street, get the national press involved, shame the pimps and ho's etc.

The problem is, Dominicans talk a lot, get all passionate, but take very little real action.
Don't take this as a dig personally, I'm just pointing out the reality.

If you want change, take action and be prepared to fight for it, potentially literally.

Also...

Let's not make this about race, Sosua had a problem long before any African Americans started going there.
 
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Estrelleta44

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the gorgon said:
is this a spoof? the GRAND majority of mongers are African American? really? would these people who make these assertions care to provide data? numbers?

how about a timeline? when did family friendly tourism die down in Sosua? did it have any coincidence with the ascendancy of Punta Cana?

the suggestion in these observations is that African Americans killed family tourism in Sosua. so, since not too many African Americans frequented Playa Dorada for purposes of participating in prostitution activities, to what do you attribute the collapse of Playa Dorada and other tourist facilities in the village of Puerto Plata proper?
Click to expand...

as i said "Recently a DR news station did a report on whether we should change the laws on prostitution, its effects on the local economy , who visits these locations looking for sex , what do the prostitutes think of the situation and what the government is doing" and that is the demography of the "mongers" that have been visiting in the recent time. so obviously (atleast to me) that is what is going to come up on their report.
 
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the gorgon

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Robert said:
If you feel so passionately about the current status of Sosua and POP, I suggest you take on the corrupt local officials, politicians and business people that have allowed this to happen. Get a woman's group to protest nightly in the street, get the national press involved, shame the pimps and ho's etc.

The problem is, Dominicans talk a lot, get all passionate, but take very little real action.
Don't take this as a dig personally, I'm just pointing out the reality.

If you want change, take action and be prepared to fight for it, potentially literally.

Also...

Let's not make this about race, Sosua had a problem long before any African Americans started going there.
Click to expand...

glad you added that last sentence, and saved me the need to make these realities known. also, as far as looking for minors, i have not seen too many Afrrican Americans getting arrested for pedophilia.
 
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the gorgon

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Estrelleta44 said:
as i said "Recently a DR news station did a report on whether we should change the laws on prostitution, its effects on the local economy , who visits these locations looking for sex , what do the prostitutes think of the situation and what the government is doing" and that is the demography of the "mongers" that have been visiting in the recent time. so obviously (atleast to me) that is what is going to come up on their report.
Click to expand...

and none of what you just wrote means a hill of beans vis a vis the truth of the issue. as Robert pointed out, Sosua had its prostitution issues long before African Americans started going there in any numbers.

if you can supply facts, dates, and timelines to buttress your observation that AAs caused the collapse of Sosua's ''family tourism'', whatever that means, then fire away. i am keen to hear that information. i have been laboring under the misconception that Puerto Plata province simply fell victim to the tourism life cycle, expounded upon by Butler in a seminal work on the rise and fall of tourist destinations.

have a read..

https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/38717/1/LCCARL166_en.pdf
 
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Estrelleta44

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again....where did i say that AAs specifically caused it? what i did state was that THE REPORT said that the majority of the mongers are AAs and that prostitution caused the collapse of family tourism. now you two are just putting words in my mouth. And before this gets further out of control, i do not have anything against AAs or anyone of that ethnicity and only mentioned the R-card because i knew it was coming as they are overly sensitive.

Si el zapato te queda...
 
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the gorgon

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Estrelleta44 said:
again....where did i say that AAs specifically caused it? what i did state was that THE REPORT said that the majority of the mongers are AAs and that prostitution caused the collapse of family tourism. now you two are just putting words in my mouth. And before this gets further out of control, i do not have anything against AAs or anyone of that ethnicity and only mentioned the R-card because i knew it was coming as they are overly sensitive.

Si el zapato te queda...
Click to expand...

actually, you finished off your posting by saying..MY PERSONAL OPINION...

then you went on to say something about the ''background of most of these tourists'', and opining that they are sensitive, and prone to invoking the race card.

here is my point...humor me. provide me with a few pieces of information..

1...when did family tourism dry up in Puerto Plata province?

2...when did AAs start to frequent Sosua in any meaningful numbers?

that should not be hard to do...then we can ventilate the matter in coherent manner.
 
D

dv8

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you heard what the boss said:

Robert said:
Let's not make this about race, Sosua had a problem long before any African Americans started going there.
Click to expand...

one more word from any of you about black americans and you will find yourself with an infraction.

don't let me repeat myself.
 
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Estrelleta44

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nice try, but using "them" and "they" does not get you off the race hook. infraction given.

by all means, post your opinion but please respect forum rules.
 
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cavok

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Most of the OT applies to Sosua. Cabarete attracts a lot of snowbirds, young European couples as well as Americans and Canadians, and families as well. There is a real lack of decent hotels in Cabarete or I think it would be doing better.

As for Sosua, the first time I went there was 20 years ago - and families were not what I found. As others have said, Punta Cana has drawn away a lot of potential tourists from Puerto Plata, Sosua, and Cabarete.
 
CristoRey

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Oddly enough I just came back from Sosua today. Spent all
day at the beach with friends yesterday. Didn't see or hear
any of the locals complaining about tourist not spending money.

Back when I was living up there, I could not tell you how many
times I heard the locals complaining about the government not
spending money.

Sosua became what it is today BECAUSE OF THE CORRUPTION in
this country. Until someone is ready to step up to the plate and
deal with these corrupt politicians and their abuse of power,
there is and will always will be sex tourist traveling down here
to pop off in the Dominican Republic.

Indeed, corruption is by far the biggest white elephant in the room.
For those of you who do not know how to eat a big white elephant,
you eat him one bite at a time.
 
J

jd426

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Last return leg ticket from POP to JFK i purchased for someone just a week or 2 ago

Ticket Price was $ 97.00
TAXES $104.13

How do your justify that kind of Robbery ?
How exactly does Jet Blue fly you 1500 Miles for $97
but POP Airport needs those kind of taxes and "departure" fees , etc
Where does that money go exactly ?
Tourists will only put up with so much Fleecing .
 
R

RV429

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We've had homes in both PP and Sosua. I have never thought of PP as a Prostitution area and it's not. And 20 years ago Sosua still had it's share of Putas, only the clients were mostly Euros. I'd never have called Sosua a family destination in my 20 years here, Cabarete much more so. And while I don't go to town much at night anymore, prostitution is definitely not in your face during the day in Sosua or Playa Sosua in the day and I just spent 2 days at the beach, almost zero roaming Putas.
 
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the gorgon

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RV429 said:
We've had homes in both PP and Sosua. I have never thought of PP as a Prostitution area and it's not. And 20 years ago Sosua still had it's share of Putas, only the clients were mostly Euros. I'd never have called Sosua a family destination in my 20 years here, Cabarete much more so. And while I don't go to town much at night anymore, prostitution is definitely not in your face during the day in Sosua or Playa Sosua in the day and I just spent 2 days at the beach, almost zero roaming Putas.
Click to expand...

of course Sosua had putas 20 years ago. and 20 years ago, it was on the way out, like Playa Dorada. i do not know what is this family tourism people are talking about...
 
D

dv8

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i don't understand the concept of family tourism at all. heck, punta cana is a mecca for family holidays and i don't think it translates to streets being flooded by parents with kids. what middle class families from europe and north america like is a lazy do-nothing holiday environment: all inclusive hotels.

after 10-12 hour working day with grueling commute and then slaving away at home to please their ingrate spawn the parents want to chillax in a place where no cleaning or cooking is required. a place where they are not puzzled over foreign language menu. where they don't get surprised with 28% addition to their restaurant bill. a place where they do not have to pay for a plate they ordered for their kids only to see them nibble few bites and leave the rest. a place where they do not need to haggle taxi rides, where they do not need to navigate unknown neighbourhoods. they want a buffet with a variety of choices, a shallow kiddie pool, daily entertainment shows to keep their offspring occupied while mommy and daddy down drinks pondering their life choices. and they want a nice, clean beach where they can fry in the sun without being bothered by the vendors, noise and rubbish.

sosua does not offer this. yet. even the local middle class would flock to sosua regardless of its reputation if there were nice AIs at low weekend prices. they probably would not venture into the town but the hotel infrastructure will create lots of low level jobs - which are the ones most needed.

i'd say, leave the putas alone. it would be way better for the government to invite investors and create better infrastructure to support and encourage them.
 
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the gorgon

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great insights, dv8. what has to be taken into account is that prior to 1970, there was basically no tourist industry in the DR. more people from the DR visited foreign countries than the number of foreigners who came to the DR. heck, in 1970, most foreigners had never heard of the DR. so, when they got into the hotel industry around the early 70s, it was a case where a bunch of rank amateurs were trying to get into a business in which they had no experience. testimony to that are the hotels in Costambar which went belly up, along with others, such as the huge blue and white monstrosity right outside Sosua. the only way they were going to compete with the established players like The Bahamas, and Jamaica, was to get into the all inclusive racket, which was basically invented in Jamaica. the DR has not had any ''family tourism'' of which i am aware. the first family tourist idea i can think of happened when Frankie Rance opened Franklin D Resort, in Discovery Bay, Jamaica, and made it a family hotel, complete with attractions for the kids, and full time nannies. i have not seen too many hotels with that business model in the north coast region.
 
Robert

Robert

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the gorgon said:
where did you read that Club Med came to Jamaica? there are only two people who i can think of as developers of the concept in Jamaica...the Issa Brothers, and Butch Stewart. how come i am a Jamaican who knows a little about the country, and i have never heard of this?
Click to expand...

Nobody cares about Jamaica, this is a DR forum.
The topic and any mention of Jamaica ends now in this thread.
 
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