Originally Posted by Darren
Just going from experience, I would imagine that it has to do in part with the types of tourists that go as well. Bali has basically three main categories of tourists: 1) Japanese, 2) Dutch, and 3) young Aussies. None, possibly absent the rich Japanese, are known for spending inordinate amounts of money and are especially not known for being willing to overpay for things. Central America's tourists are 1) other Latin Americans, and 2) United Stateians. Gringos are generally known for being willing to spend a lot of money on touisty things, and frankly I think the stereotype is correct from my observations. I believe that someone referred to tourists as cultural terrorists and I frankly agree. The amount of disruption that can occur to a country's economy is astronomical. The effect isn't always bad, I suppose, but it is still there and can become very bad.
What confused me was that labor-intensive goods and services in parts of Costa Rica seemed very expensive yet I didn't see where the locals were benefiting from the high costs for their goods and services as the standard of living didn't appear that great. From what I've read average wages there are around $1-$2 an hour. So who's getting the money when a massage costs $70 an hour? (One therapist told me she does 12 massages a day yet I saw the dump where she lived as she left her purse behind at our house and we brought it to her.) And who's getting the money when a locally made wood carving is $200? It just appeared to me that someone other than the Costa Ricans is benefiting from the sale of goods and services there. I did notice in Manuel Antonio that many of the businesses and rental properties are owned by folks from the states. I just wonder how much Costa Ricans are seeing of the money that gets spent there. My guess is not a lot. (From what little I've read, it doesn't seem Costa Rica has near the problem with high-level corruption that other Central American countries do, and the recent revelations of corruption among high-ranking officials aren't of a nature that would have this type of impact, but that's just my take on things.)
Zarcero mentioned cost of living as having gone up in Costa Rica. I would guess that has to do with the large number of people from the states who've moved/retired there and great amounts of foreign investment, but has it made life better for the natives?
I enjoyed Costa Rica, but came away filled with questions.