My firned. Excuse the appearance.
I guess I forgot to include the context from when that was originally posted. The "lines" post from back in 2000 was all in fun and at the time, was a popular topic. Here's the one I posted for the tourist.
http://dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=41555&post41555
You may never have heard the word sanky, but if you've stayed at an AI resort , they were there. They exist at beach resorts all throughout the Caribbean. Jamaica and Costa Rica is even more popular for "Romance Tourism" as they call it.
You are right about mostly complaints. People aren't going to post "everything was fine". Forums of any kind generally are for posting problems and maybe getting solutions, aren't they?
Go to any product forum and you won't see, (modem manufacturer site) "My new modem is fast.", you'll want one", you'll see "Where can I get an updated driver. The one I've got doesn't work with my computer".
Everybody's experience is different. Go to Debbies Dominican page and you'll see praise and disgust given to the same properties there. No different here.
What does "underpaid" mean. If it means not enough money to live comfortably, then I won't argue. I take it to mean less than what the job is worth. Which do we usually use when deciding what to pay someone? What it is worth, or what people can live comfortably on?
When it is MORE than what people comfortably live on, do we give expect the employees to give the excess back to the resort? No, we pay the minimum we need to, in order to get the kind of employees and attitudes we feel are sufficient to meet our business objectives. It's OK to operate at business that way isn't it? That's how most of the businesses in the western world operate.
The resorts did not make the people poor and starving. The resorts did not make the people jobless. The resort just gave them an employment OPTION, where before there was none. I think most of the employees there would rather have the option to work there (at very low wages) than not have the option at all. The resort's option of low pay can make the difference between someone eating, or not. You'd rather the latter?
When it is your company, you can take "your" profits and spend them on higher wages, and take out a loan for higher wages if you aren't making a profit this year.
There is a minimum wage law in the DR and it is not being violated. This is what the government, elected by the people, decide is the minimum. Not you or me.
The low pay makes possible bargain prices, which is one of the key points driving tourism in the DR, if not THE key point. You want to drive away tourism? That can't be good for anybody.
The pay is in line with wages in the DR and the market value for the job. Do you offer to overpay at a hotel, if it's going bankrupt and all the employees are about to lose their jobs and maybe not eat? Should the rule be that you can't start a business unless you pay high enough wages for people to live comfortably? Do these same employees that also have colmados, salons in the family or whose family might employ a housekeeper, pay enough to their employees to make a comfortable living? Guaranteed it's less than the resort pays. Those are sought after jobs in the DR, at the pay rate they offer. Very sought after. There are always more people that want the job than the resort has jobs to offer.
Anyway, this is an old topic, discussed to death in the archives.