Sosua beach was very empty last sunday.

[azb]

I always hated to go to sosua beach on sunday as many locals and some tourists alike would storm the beach.
Unfortunately, i didn't see many people relaxing under the sun as always. The beach chairs were available in 100s and the beach venders seemed desperate if not depressed. I had not seen sosua beach so dull in such a long time. Mind you i live in santiago and go to susua once in a while.
I was informed by my friend in la romana that their hotel was down about 20-40 percent in occupancy since the WTC attack. I can already see the effects of the economical crises that has rocked the NYC last tuesday.
God help us all!

 

[Jason]

You're right-Sosua is dead at this time.

 

[ChicacagoChris]

How much better will it get during the season? I'm afraid not much. I got my tickets for Thanksgiving (US) a couple of months ago, expecting to do my usual sprint through Miami to catch that connecting flight an hour later. So now here's the expected agenda. ORD to Miami leaving at 6:00 a.m. Chicago time. Given the hyper security (long overdue) here, it may behoove me to stay at one of the hotels by O'Hare the night before so as to be sure to make the flight from Chicago to Miami. That will cost me four times the price of my hotel per night in Sosua. Given what I'm hearing, I won't be able to get to my flight in Miami to POP, again because of hyper security. Before those bastards hit WTC I could be in the air at 6:00 a.m. and be sitting with a really cold Presidente at 2:00 p.m. DR time if I was running a little late. Now I'm looking at landing at POP sometime the next day!! All of the foregoing is based on the assumption that AA will be flying on the dates I scheduled with them to the locations I scheduled with them. Its turned into a crap shoot and the only thing worse could be spending Thanksgiving at my ex-mother-in-law's house with my ex-wife and her sister.

Spending another Thanksgiving with those two and their mother is not a sobering thought. I'm getting another glass of wine. With God's help may we all get through this. My little problem is miniscule in relation to the affected families and friends from last week and the families and friends that will be affected when the body bags start getting stuffed both domestically and internationally. I'm as furious as anybody else about what has transpired this last week and don't want blood but want balls and some other body parts to go with. Before praising the Lord and passing the ammunition though, I pray for that miracle that is one in a million however, given the events of the last week and the political, cultural, religious and economic variables and complexities, mans' hatred of man, religious hatred of other religions, the envy of some of the poor and the arrogance of some of the wealthy, the need to kick start an economy and the thirst for kicking some butt, God (whichever side he/she is on) will sit on the sidelines and shed many tears over the kind like man because He made mankind in his own image.

Hope to see some of you people in Sosua in November and may the world be a better place by then.

 

[martin]

What's the scene then?

As you Guy's are local what's the scene?
In your opinion is the "DR" heading for a crisis?
I've only only been to the DR a couple of times and loved it a lot!
I know that its not the best bet "IF MONEY IS YOUR GOD!" or all the other"CRAP" that makes the world work where I come from.
But will it make it better for the island in the long term or badder? ( NOT GOOD DICTION BUT IT'S LATE HERE AN I'VE HAD A BEER)

PS I HOPE IT'S GOOD, AS I WILL BE FEELING IT IN OCTOBER WHEN WE WILL BE LIVING WITH YOU ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE ISLAND....

HOPE I GET SOME REPLIES!

 

[John]

Re: What's the scene then?

you bet the dr. is heading for a crisis,as is the rest of the world,the full economic impac of this brutal murder in new york has not even started yet,and the dr economy is based a lot on tourist dollars,and when those tourists are facing unemployment the last thing on their minds is a trip to the dr. hope this does not last long so people can get on with their lives and live in peace without worrying about some idiot who thinks he is going to go to heaven by killing gods children in some horrible attack.

 

[azb]

Re: What's the scene then?

yeah, DR is sure heading towards troubling times. Less people are flying into and out of DR airports. Hotels claim to have as much as 50% less occupancy. The good news is that the beaches are not so much crowded as they used to be on sundays (sosua, cabarete).
When hard times like these hit DR, the prices of the hotels usually come down. The bars offer better prices as well. Ex: in costambar, i saw a sign "cuba-libre 10 pesos". Cuba libre= rum & coke. It was a german bar/restaurant on the main road into costambar, puerto plata.
A bar in santiago had offered 100 pesos p/p (guys) and 50 pesos / female for all you can drink type deal (open bar). Usually that place is decently full with young folks on a normal night and with a deal like this i thought there would be a line outside. To my surprise, there were only 15 people inside and the doorman desperately looking for people to enter. Totally dead.
Now this is scary stuff. People like myself who depend on the dominican economy to survive are seeing some tough times ahead.
But if you are a tourist, you may be able to get deals and service that you were not able to enjoy before. So come and come in groups. Have a nice vacation.

 

[MaxxJaxx]

Mcdonalds Price Index

I have traveled to over 22 Countries around the world and in a couple of weeks I will coming to the DR. Many years ago someone showed me how to compare value when traveling. Here is how it works.

Go into a local Mcdonalds restaurant at a peak time and buy a Big Mac, Fries and Coke and compare the price you paid with price you would have paid back home. Look around and see how busy the restaurant is. Find out the hourly rate of the average worker.

In Canada, the average Mcdonalds employee earns $6.00 per hour, average cost of a Big Mac, Fries, Coke is $4.50. The ratio is +0.75%. Last year I travelled to Indonesia, the average worker got 40 cents an hour yet I paid about $4.00 for a Big Mac, Fries and Coke. The ratio was a whopping -10.00.

If the ratio at a Mcdonalds abroad is similar to the one back home than you should pay about the same for goods and services where you are traveling.

If the ratio is higher (ie.Australia +0.55), you would probably pay slightly more for goods and services locally than you would back home.

If the ratio is lower (ie. Indonesia, S.E. Asia -10.00) you would pay substanially less for goods and services than you would back home.

The facts is, tourists are always a minority, the local population most always will outnumber the tourists and the economics will be dictated by the majority.

I also like to compare other prices and situations. AZB wrote below how some bars are offering cuba-libre's for 10 peso's (1 Canadian Dollar) and 100 peso all you can drink nights. How does this compare to what I have now.

Last night I went to a bar close to the University of Calgary, 25 cent glasses of draft, $1.00 highballs (Vodka,Gin,Rye,Rum)
and they offer this every night until 11pm. I know several bars that offer these deals. You won't find these deals around Yuppy hangouts or around the tourist hotels but where the locals hangout.

My point is that one of the reasons tourists destinations go through Boom and Bust cycles is that they price themselves out of the market. The reality is that prices of many Goods and Services in Canada, DR and elsewhere will have to drop to bring them inline with the buying power of the average person.

My McThoughts on this McEconomy

___________________________
AZB wrote;

yeah, DR is sure heading towards troubling times. Less people are flying into and out of DR airports. Hotels claim to have as much as 50% less occupancy. The good news is that the beaches are not so much crowded as they used to be on sundays (sosua, cabarete).
When hard times like these hit DR, the prices of the hotels usually come down. The bars offer better prices as well. Ex: in costambar, i saw a sign "cuba-libre 10 pesos". Cuba libre= rum & coke. It was a german bar/restaurant on the main road into costambar, puerto plata.
A bar in santiago had offered 100 pesos p/p (guys) and 50 pesos / female for all you can drink type deal (open bar). Usually that place is decently full with young folks on a normal night and with a deal like this i thought there would be a line outside. To my surprise, there were only 15 people inside and the doorman desperately looking for people to enter. Totally dead.
Now this is scary stuff. People like myself who depend on the dominican economy to survive are seeing some tough times ahead.
But if you are a tourist, you may be able to get deals and service that you were not able to enjoy before. So come and come in groups. Have a nice vacation.
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