That is because tourism is job1 and education is way down the list.
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Abinader: The best days for tourism industry are yet to come
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Exactly my point.
More like education has been completely left off the list.
There is an absolutely direct correlation between education and tourism.
Less focus on education and more on tourism=more uneducated people in the hospitality industry. More sankies, possibly more crime targeting tourists, unless they increase salaries. Who thinks hotel owners want to part with part of their profit margins?
Best days 😂. For his bank account on the backs of his people.
Less focus on education and more on tourism=more uneducated people in the hospitality industry. More sankies, possibly more crime targeting tourists, unless they increase salaries. Who thinks hotel owners want to part with part of their profit margins?
Best days 😂. For his bank account on the backs of his people.
The better educated the population is, the better service they can give to tourism. The ability to be articulate in English and proper Spanish will provide much better customer service. There are numerous ways that an educated population would improve the DR , for both the country and tourism.
As they say Lindsey “you hit the nail on the head”!
Normally I would agree with you Bob, but having spent a fair bit of time in Cuba and seeing well educated professionals working on the reception desks at the resorts for a pittance, it doesn’t follow that a better educated class of Dominicans will raise the standard of the tourist industry in the DR and their wages accordingly. Resort owners aren’t willing to pay staff high wages, educated or not.
Normally I would agree with you Bob, but having spent a fair bit of time in Cuba and seeing well educated professionals working on the reception desks at the resorts for a pittance, it doesn’t follow that a better educated class of Dominicans will raise the standard of the tourist industry in the DR and their wages accordingly. Resort owners aren’t willing to pay staff high wages, educated or not.
Tourism creates thousands of jobs and opportunities. As does mining , Agra and manufacturing. They're are countless learning opportunities for those that are hungry for knowledge and skills. Having a child at 16 and/or riding around on a moto all day is a roadblock. Hotel owners are not the boogie man, "laziness" is.
Did I mention wages? Everything in Cuba, including the wages is controlled by the Cuban government. I have in-laws that work in tourism in Cuba, and they are all quite fluent in English and their wages are terrible, but they can make decent tips, and do. The same would apply to the DR , and yes the resorts in the DR will pay more for higher educated people. Wages are all relative to what the other people in the country make.
It's hard to put a dictatorship like Cuba on par with the DR on any other country. If they could attract global business those well educated professionals would not be manning the reception desks.
Not really. The resort owners in Cuba have the backing of the government when it come to wages and a cheap supply of labour. It’s the same in the DR. Being democratic and duly elected doesn’t guarantee worker rights.
I do agree that attracting global business would result in better wages for educated people in the long term but the tourism idol is the one worshiped by the DR government. They don’t want to see an exodus of resort workers to other better paying jobs. This point has been reinforced by a multitude of posters.
Bob,
I can’t speak for all the resorts in the DR but I can speak about how staff are treated and paid at Lifestyles in Cofresi and the former Puerto Plata Village in Playa Dorada.
I’ve seen first hand how staff are treated in these resorts and I know how low the wages are for lower and middle management staff at these resorts. The higher management, well paid staff are brought in from abroad. Usually from Spain.
Bigger ticket resorts=bigger comp. Small boutique shops can pay housekeeping and Gardners etc as low as 8k/month by keeping shifts tight.
Wages don't increase based on the education level. People with better education will fill up the management positions and then the rest of the highly educated would have the low paying positions. Increase in wages is related to productivity and the relation between supply of labor from the population and demand from tourist companies. Labor unions can do so much in increasing wages for those employed, but it can't be that much. Un controlled immigration, in this case from Haiti, makes it easier on the companies as enough of them will cause a competition in labor that othersise would had never occured.
As for foreign management labor, the best situation for a company is to hire local given the wages will be according to local conditions. If the expertise for that position can't be hired locally, then the company is obligated to bring it from abroad. In order to get say someone with top notch hotel managerial experience from Spain, the compensation needs to be similar to what he would earn in Spain plus a bonus meant to compensate for the difficulties of adjusting to a developing country if all your life has been in a developed one. Otherwise, he would find a position somewhere in Europe where the pay is at his expectations or higher. What's the alternative? Let the company crumble for lack of expertise and eventually everyone will be out of a job?
This reminds me of what Abinader said regarding attending a re-opening of a resort in Bávaro after the initial pandemic shutdown. Some of the things that surprised him the most was seeing the employees crying once they re-opening event started. Must be nice to stare at a wall without a job in a developing country. I mean, those people didn't started to cry when it was obvious they were back to work for the sake of shedding some tears?
As for foreign management labor, the best situation for a company is to hire local given the wages will be according to local conditions. If the expertise for that position can't be hired locally, then the company is obligated to bring it from abroad. In order to get say someone with top notch hotel managerial experience from Spain, the compensation needs to be similar to what he would earn in Spain plus a bonus meant to compensate for the difficulties of adjusting to a developing country if all your life has been in a developed one. Otherwise, he would find a position somewhere in Europe where the pay is at his expectations or higher. What's the alternative? Let the company crumble for lack of expertise and eventually everyone will be out of a job?
This reminds me of what Abinader said regarding attending a re-opening of a resort in Bávaro after the initial pandemic shutdown. Some of the things that surprised him the most was seeing the employees crying once they re-opening event started. Must be nice to stare at a wall without a job in a developing country. I mean, those people didn't started to cry when it was obvious they were back to work for the sake of shedding some tears?
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I have Dominican friends in Luperon who still hope the old resort will be reopened. The closure of the resort, once the main economic driver, affected the standard of living for many of the residents. Granted the majority of the jobs weren’t well paying, but local residents were glad to have them. The resort provided them with the ability to work in their hometown, put food on their tables, and keep a roof over their heads. For many, it wasn’t about higher wages. It was about having the opportunity to eke out a living in an area with very limited employment opportunities.
Luperon is surviving despite the resort closure. A few small business have cropped up here and there but nothing to match an economic engine like a resort. A few years ago, there were rumours Lifestyles was interested in it. Nothing came of it. The resort had one big detractor. The long narrow winding road made trips from the airport to the resort and back arduous, especially for tourists who arrived after long flights from European countries. The road from Imbert to Luperon has received a lot of upgrades over the past five years but it is still a dangerous drive especially at night. The resort has degraded to the point where it would require a massive infusion of cash to bring it back to life and compete with resorts in Playa Dorada and Punta Cana. Thats not going to happen in these economic times.
The separate accommodation structures are still in relatively good shape. They could easily be converted to condos similar to what’s being done in Puerto Plata Village. if the government was willing to offer an expedited seniors citizenship program and promote part of the old resort as a seniors retirement complex to North Americans, they might attract a few investors and revive the Luperon economy. Wishful thinking on my part but Luperon is one of my favourite DR campo towns. A great mix of locals, expat, sailors, and a laid back lifestyle I think seniors would love. If you build it, they will come.
Typical resort workers make around $15,000RD per month. Roughly converted that’s about $325CDN/$260USD per month. This is ballpark.
Depending on the job, they might be able to double that with tips. Bartenders sure, housekeepers maybe not.
$500-$600 per month really isn’t great, and that’s assuming you make bank with tips.
Consider non-tourism jobs with average salaries being lower than that, no chance at tips, and it’s really not a lot for the average family to survive on. So yeah, without a decent education and a solid upbringing, people will seek out ways to scam others to get ahead. That’s not specific to only the DR.
Depending on the job, they might be able to double that with tips. Bartenders sure, housekeepers maybe not.
$500-$600 per month really isn’t great, and that’s assuming you make bank with tips.
Consider non-tourism jobs with average salaries being lower than that, no chance at tips, and it’s really not a lot for the average family to survive on. So yeah, without a decent education and a solid upbringing, people will seek out ways to scam others to get ahead. That’s not specific to only the DR.
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