I was planning on writing a piece soon of why I have an inherent prejudice against those wealthy 5 star resorts that abound in poor "island paradise" third world countries. However a friend of mine made some comments recently in another forum on this same topic, so instead of reinventing the wheel, I paraphrase their comments below;
"I had never until recently visited any islands in the Pacific nor the Indian ocean , and I don't denounce the natural beauty nor the wonderful people ... the locals .. who inhabit such tropical paradises. Their local customs and food being magnificent ! BUT .. Once I went to a couple, stayed in top notch resorts , took it upon myself to visit places on my own , leave the resort and talk to those that work there and treat them with humanity and respect, the govt gives away family plots to resort owners, who normally take the profits out of the countr, pay below minimum standards to workers, forcing long hours, and making workers pay for food that they may eat. It's horrid, exploitative and downright inhuman to see this happening as we bake our sweet butts in the sun. Resorts to me are tarted up prisons, dull, spiritless places, boring and I have stayed at the best ones. I will never ever stay in a resort or visit these places unless I stay in a pension with locals! The locals are exploited, and are treated badly by resort owners who don't want them near these places coz the fear that they'll cause trouble . These third world island dictatorial regimes pander to the capitalists as they get a cut for buying land or confiscating land from these little people who lose their livelihood and can't plant their food and need to go to supermarkets, perpetuating the cycle of poverty and exploitation . Resorts should b banned".
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