Puerto Plata prostitution and its effect on the local economy

[badpiece33]

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.....

Been going to DR and Sosua for over 30 years now and let me assure you there were many many more prostitutes on the streets back in the early 90s. They would almost block the street where Caribe tours is in Charamicos back in the day. Batey was much quieter back then with a few restaurants. The majority of the tourists back then were German and dutch and over the years it has become more of a Canadian, American and many Russians and still some Germans in the mix. You can have a family vacation in Sosua nowadays if you like, I have never seen prostitutes harass or bother people that are with their wives and kids, and you wont really notice it unless you go looking for it, That being said I could say the same for every town in the DR. The main reason for the decline of the north coast is the airport taxes and fees, Probably the highest in the Caribbean and also Punta Cana has taken all the air out of the north coast. All the resorts in playa dorada are small and very dated, Back in the 90s playa dorada was packed and the mall and its restaurants were always crowded, Now I go there regularly to the movie theater and apart from the theater the place is a ghost town.

 

[Garyexpat]

We use cabañas when we travel to Santo Domingo. Beats the check-in hassles of a hotel, you don't have to worry about your car so you don't have to unpack it, and many offer a simple breakfast in the morning pushed through the $$$ window with an 8+ hr. stay.

We use one that charges RD$900 if we check in after 9pm. We have what we call our "Cabaña Bag" ready to go, a sipper duffle with nice sheets, a blanket, two nice pillows, towels, coffee maker...and a showerhead, since those get "lost" at Cabañas.

And since they don't have an a/c thermostat, I take a piece of cardboard to block over half the intake air flow to keep the room from becoming a fridge.

Some dam good ideas cobraboy. (I have also made use of them for more than a good time).

 

[slowmo]

It is rather Ironic, that other places like just outside Vegas which has prostitution, in a Country where it is pretty much Outlawed everywhere else.. and it works just fine.. with no major problems on Tourism , quite the opposite in fact ..

And then in a Country like the DR, where Prostitution is Legal everywhere .. the belief is that it somehow CANT continue to work, in a small town like Sosua .

If you read that out loud, it makes no sense at all.

It is also ironic that the country that has the best system in regards to prostitution has some of the least amount of negative chatter about the subject. In fact many people have no idea that Germany is a leader in sex tourism.

 

[cavok]

It's nothing but a diversion to cover up how incompetently Sosua is, and has been, run.

 

[cobraboy]

It is also ironic that the country that has the best system in regards to prostitution has some of the least amount of negative chatter about the subject. In fact many people have no idea that Germany is a leader in sex tourism.

But not cheap sex tourism like other countries in Central America and SE Asia...the DR included.

Different market.

 

[kcdmps]

...
And then in a Country like the DR, where Prostitution is Legal everywhere .. the belief is that it somehow CANT continue to work, in a small town like Sosua ..l.

I can remember when Pattaya (sex capital of the world) was small, like Sosua. Now, its skyline looks like NYC from Koh Larn a few miles out.

 

[Uzin]

All very good points, I say Las Vegas and Pattaya are good examples of not bringing up sex workers as an excuse and getting on with developing and in fact using it as advantage. From what I heard it wasn't just gambling that made Las Vegas and nowadays families and kids taking pics with hostess girls in bikini in Pattaya Walking Street, and they love walking through and enjoy the atmosphere. It has lost it's seediness and it is all glitz and glam now in those places... !

Good point about cheap prices, that brings bad crowd and make it look awful, clean up, bring in order and class, raise prices and you see who comes and what happens.

 

[Salsafan]

But not cheap sex tourism like other countries in Central America and SE Asia...the DR included.
Different market.

Not so different. Normal price for 30 min in Germany is 50 Eur, not so much difference to DR-Chicas.
A whole night is a different story.
Sorry for offtopic.

 

[Bundel2014]

So So much written on this subject,but to what end???

 

[ctrob]

All very good points, I say Las Vegas and Pattaya are good examples of not bringing up sex workers as an excuse and getting on with developing and in fact using it as advantage. From what I heard it wasn't just gambling that made Las Vegas and nowadays families and kids taking pics with hostess girls in bikini in Pattaya Walking Street, and they love walking through and enjoy the atmosphere. It has lost it's seediness and it is all glitz and glam now in those places... !

Good point about cheap prices, that brings bad crowd and make it look awful, clean up, bring in order and class, raise prices and you see who comes and what happens.

Maybe some people, but I would never take my kids (or grand kids) to an area crawling with hookers and pose with them for pics.

And while we're comparing seedy areas with Sosua, how about Times Square before and after. Maybe Sosua needs a Rudy?

 

[jd426]

So So much written on this subject,but to what end???

... in the End it is still THEIR Country.. and We are merely Guests ..

 

[Milo Mitt]

The people that worry about prostitutes on this forum are the ones that fear the lack of easy access to them might be diminished. To them I say, Don't Panic, that is unlikely to ever happen.

The people in the rest of the world that worry about prostitutes are the DR government, the Dominicans that hate the reputation prostitution gives the country, some companies considering and making major investments like Marriott, and perhaps a woman in BF Idaho whose husband visited the DR for a week and failed to return.

Windy, I do not think you have to worry about too many people worrying about the prostitutes. I am certain that the majority do not care much. I have not seen the prostitutes bothering people too much on the beach and in the evening you can stay away from Pedro Clisante, however in the evenings it can be annoying if you are bothered by a working girl while walking home from a restaurant for example I agree with the ones who has that opinion.

I know that you are DR centric since you live here but rest of the world cannot only be DR government and Dominicans..

 

[KyleMackey]

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.....

Family friendly tourism will remain at the AI's. Keeping or securing ex pats $$ is largely don't be to dang corrupt.

 

[cavok]

That sure is a tall order.

 

[monfongo]

Nobody says "dang"

 

[Bundel2014]

You people must have nothing to do with you time.This post is so stupid,and you keep adding to it.A question,if Sosua fell into the sea,who would care? If Prostitution was made a crime in the DR,who cares? If Prostitution and underage sex continues,who cares?Nothing will change the way Dominicans live,nothing will change the whore mongers that come to the DR.The thing i find so silly,are the Xpats that want to put their morals on the locals.Oh had a new tee shirt made,will be on display at the midtowne bar sunday.It isnt to the liking of the DR! community.ha ha ha.

 

[cavok]

And yet you feel the need to add to it.

 

[Bundel2014]

Cavok,that was deep,any other insightful comments.

 

[jeb321]

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.

Any so you decided to report on "mongers". And this radio station cited this. DR news station...oxymoron.

 

[jeb321]

who's to say i am not doing my part?

Spreading false information?