The All-Inclusive

Robert · #1 04-28-2003, 06:31 PM

This arrived in my email box today

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My diatribe today is on the concept of the All-Inclusive. Nothing can create greater ire with small entrepreneurs here in the Dominican Republic than this activity. The All-Inclusive is loved (?) by travelers, hated by residents, particularly, small business owners. Basically, the concept of the All-Inclusive is that everything is included in one price: drinks, food, entertainment, etc. There is a place here in Puerto Plata known as Playa Dorada. I go there often. I may go there tonight to see the movie Chicago. It is a megalopolis of stores, banks, theaters, hotels, etc. There is NOTHING they do not have. If you want to go boating, no problem, golfing, shopping, gambling (several different casinos), free Internet, dancing, and much more. The food is excellent, and you can eat all you want of it, 20 free lobsters, sounds good to me. Any drink you can name, they will make, and it costs you nothing extra. (A grasshopper goes into a Playa Dorado bar. The bartender says, "You know, we got a drink here named for you." And the grasshopper says, "You got a drink named Bob.") You paid one price for this, and it was reasonable. They even have top-notch shows which some people say are as good as the ones in Las Vegas. However, there is one thing they do not like at Playa Dorada and that is when you say you are going outside. "Outside," they say, "where?" To town. "What town? You could get robbed there." I want to go to the bank. "Bank? We have every bank. You want a Japanese bank, Canadian, German, American, what?" Well, maybe try some different food. "There is no different food. We have every food, Armenian, Turkish, Chinese…" Well, to be real honest, I thought I might look for a woman there? "Woman, we have every woman. What do you want? How tall? What color the eyes?"

BOARD MEETING AT PLAYA DORADA

"A gringo went to town today."
"Why?"
"Who knows…"
"Loco Americano…"
"But, we must be doing something wrong here. Next time he goes out I want him followed. See where he goes. See what he is looking for? Whatever it is, buy it. Get 10."
"Right, chief."

dale7 · #2 04-28-2003, 06:46 PM

Sad but true, the AI is its own little kingdom. Funny dialogue though and thanks for sharing Robert. AI's kill the little man, the struggling business owners trying to make an honest living. Remember that next time in the DR.
dale7(Howard)

trina · #3 04-28-2003, 06:53 PM

It blows my mind that people repeatedly go to the DR, and stay at the AI's in Playa Dorada and the like. I guess, though, many have been scared off by tour reps telling them about the "dangers" of going into POP and Sosua...what a bunch of crap!

Every time we come back to the DR, we are so content staying at Condos Dominicano...you couldn't find nicer hosts than Eddy and Elena...I would never set foot in an AI again...besides, for the cost of what you'd pay to go AI, we find we save so much money staying at a hotel and eating and drinking out...

Larry · #4 04-28-2003, 06:56 PM

The grasshopper walking into the bar injection had me laughing. I feel sorry for people that stay at these places. They get good value for their money but deprive themselves of the true experience.
Larry

mkohn · #5 04-28-2003, 07:16 PM

What the AI doesn't have... What the AI will NEVER have...
Is the spirit of the Dominican people.
I don't care how many Dominicans they have working at the AI.
At the AI you will never see the smile of the Dominican child when you give him a shirt. Or the kids who just got baseball gloves from a stranger.
At the AI you will never feel the welcome of the Dominican family when you are invited into their home, and accept their invitation.
At the AI you will never taste the flavor of Dominican home-cooking.
Real life in the DR is not the sunshine, or the weather.
Real life in the DR is not in the AI.
It is in the community. Where all the workers go to AFTER work at the AI.
It is in the eardrum breaking, broken speaker, playing loud music. It is in the colmado where you can buy 1 cigarette, or a tablespoon of tomato sauce when you need it.
It is in the friendships nurtured in the streets during evening apagones.
It is in the zest for life, in spite of the poverty and lack of enough education.
It is in helping eachother when a hurricane has destroyed your house.
None of these require a lot of money.
At the AI one cares only about the ROI (return on investment.)
They say that "life is a dream." I'd venture to say, so is the AI.
IMHO, to anybody who dares, wake up, get outside the AI and live.
Life is not a dress rehersal.
You only get one chance.
Go for it!
mk missing DR... a lot!

PS. Want proof? The majority of the expats who live in the DR, if not all, live, not at the AI, but in neighborhoods. It's where it's happenin'...

trina · #6 04-28-2003, 07:20 PM

Very very very very very very very well said!

Paul Thate · #7 04-28-2003, 09:59 PM

This is such nonsense.
You might not like A.I. that’s fine and your right.
But what makes you believe to know what the average
tourist WANTS.?
There are hundreds of thousands tourist arriving each year.
only a very small part of them want to experience the real life as you described.
The success of Punta Cana is proof , there is nothing else.
PC was by far the most popular tourist destination in the DR this year.

The average tourist wants Sun, Sun and Sun and a great beach.
Great drinks and a good party. and if the food is good , that’s a plus.
And all that for a reasonable price.
They really don’t even care on what island or in what country they are .
Vacations to the DR and Cuba are now popular because of the price. Thats important to the average tourist.
Average tourist with a little bit more money might want to go to
some of the Jamaican Super clubs T.T. or some of the smaller islands.
The average tourist could not care less about your real life.

This tourism might not be good for the small business man
but it is great for the country.

dale7 · #8 04-28-2003, 10:44 PM

Most AI resorts have foreign interest invested in them. The DR needs tourism to help their economy but AI resorts provide jobs for a few but the profit keeps the rich richer, and the poor poorer. An AI affects the local bars, little restaurants, small hotels, little stores, and their employees. It also alienates people from seeing what the country is really like. How can anyone defend AI's with such passion. I concede though that most tourists want sun.

I am from Michigan and for example, if I decided to travel for sun, I could save 300 plus a person just on airfare alone going to Florida. There's sun there. I can sit and watch the crazy college kids and speak English and not have a care in the world. Who cares about anyone else? In the DR I can stay at my AI resort with the gate/wall going around it to keep out the "riffraff" and meet other boring European/North American couples who look down on everyone else and enjoy the cheesy entertainment(sometimes AI's do have good entertainment) and watch the Sankis at work. That is my idea of enjoying the sun, yeah right. If I wanted that crap, I would go to Myrtle Beach, Virginia Beach, or somewhere in California or Florida and spend 1/2-3/4 the money. Isn't the point of going to a foreign country to enjoy the sun, meet new people and cultures and learn. For me it is. I don't know about you but you can stay in the gated AI's who don't allow normal DR citizens in and have the hotel warn about how dangerous it is outside of the hotel. What a load of garbage. If you want to stay at an AI fine, no problem but defending them as beneficial and helping the whole economy is moronic, do the poor or small business owners have any interest in the AI's, no. The government and rich love AI's because it keeps money flowing into their pockets. I will never stay at an AI again in my life, maybe this is a strong statement but AI's suck the life out of and rape the economy for the working poor and small business owners. Next time anyone stays at an AI go out into the country and surrounding areas and take off those rose colored glasses, maybe then you will feel something besides the burning of the sun.
dale7(Howard)

Robert · #9 04-28-2003, 10:45 PM

It was meant as a joke. Yes I agree with you, 95% of tourists come for the AI experience.

Larry · #10 04-28-2003, 10:57 PM

Prior to my becoming enamored with the Dominican Republic I went to Mexico twice staying at AI's both times.First trip was to Cancun with a friend.Second was to Akumal with an ex-girlfriend.During the second trip my ex-girlfriend suggested leaving the resort to venture out and experience Mexico. I did so to please her and I was very happy that I did. I realized what I had missed the first time in the way of experiencing the culture. I made sure I did not repeat this mistake when I came to the DR.
Larry