I see the periodic stress to the north coast as a good thing. It keeps the number of businesses like Jose O'Shays and Bailey's down to a minimum and means that Sosua is always getting new businesses started. As it is, most start-up are done by ex-pats, and that may not be the best thing. While many if not most of the new businesses fail, every time there is a flip, several other industries benefit from it. If the tourist business was really steady, the place would start to look like a mall and the prices would be higher for us. It's nice that there's a Bailey's in Sosua and Jose's in Cabarete, but I wouldn't want 10 or even 5 of them in each town. It's nice to have a mix.
But if things are never stable, then you get the market taken over by businesses with low start costs and very high turnover rates. It's not that there isn't any Bailey's~ it's that now there's no Brittania, Rocky's or Jolly Rodger's either. It's all crappy dinky bars, a couple of discos and the ex-pats aren't wanting to do start-ups anymore. On the plus side, even after a really bad year, the start up costs are so low that the shops don't sit empty for long.
What you want is something in-between. You cast a bigger net for what kind of people will come to town, and it's more interesting experience when you meet all kinds of people.
The problem now is they are trying to push out the *low end* of the tourist market. If you want to cater to the family side of the market, businesses will have to upgrade their storefronts, put in decent bathrooms and prob pay even more rent than their paying now. But anyone who has been around may be thinking that would be too risky. They're going with an 'if it ain''t broke, don't fix it" mentality. They also benefit from having the start-ups fail because it keeps the competition down. Too many nicer places open up and then upgrading becomes mandatory. Then when you have a bad season, it's not just a few businesses that go under, it's the whole town. The empty shops stay empty because the start up costs are now too high and there's no expectation that the town will recover. That is the big fear. Sosua can recover when things are crappy, but if you want a strip mall, you're dooming the town eventually because the industry simply won't be stable enough for it to be sustainable.
But if things are never stable, then you get the market taken over by businesses with low start costs and very high turnover rates. It's not that there isn't any Bailey's~ it's that now there's no Brittania, Rocky's or Jolly Rodger's either. It's all crappy dinky bars, a couple of discos and the ex-pats aren't wanting to do start-ups anymore. On the plus side, even after a really bad year, the start up costs are so low that the shops don't sit empty for long.
What you want is something in-between. You cast a bigger net for what kind of people will come to town, and it's more interesting experience when you meet all kinds of people.
The problem now is they are trying to push out the *low end* of the tourist market. If you want to cater to the family side of the market, businesses will have to upgrade their storefronts, put in decent bathrooms and prob pay even more rent than their paying now. But anyone who has been around may be thinking that would be too risky. They're going with an 'if it ain''t broke, don't fix it" mentality. They also benefit from having the start-ups fail because it keeps the competition down. Too many nicer places open up and then upgrading becomes mandatory. Then when you have a bad season, it's not just a few businesses that go under, it's the whole town. The empty shops stay empty because the start up costs are now too high and there's no expectation that the town will recover. That is the big fear. Sosua can recover when things are crappy, but if you want a strip mall, you're dooming the town eventually because the industry simply won't be stable enough for it to be sustainable.
