www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Posted by Jester in another thread:


What do you think???

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"Your love gives me such a thrill
but your love don't pay my bills,
I NEED THE MONEY!" - John Lee Hooker

Disclaimer: The above is merely the opinion of the author unless specific scientific data is included.
Your mileage may vary. https://costaricaticas.com/phpBB2/viewto ... 978#206978

Some days lately its been 5 to 1 or more , girls to guys, with a lot of cein chicas happy with 80. and 60 or less for the rest. I have seen a difference in the last several months.

I would be curious about Air Flight arrival numbers with 2007 compared to 2008.

I was wondering when someone would address this issue. I had made slight mention of this possibility in a post last week. However, my concern was not so much if the U.S recession was making things better for the monger in CR.....but has the U.S recession effected mongering in general. Certainly, there are mongers that are suffering the effects of a down stock market, low interest rates on savings, declining real estate values, loss of retirement accounts, etc. etc. Has this downturn in the economy, along with increased airfares because of rising fuel prices kept mongers from even going to CR? Just this week, 3 airlines have ceased operations, blaming it on higher fuel prices.

To answer the above poll....I would think that lower demand in CR will create a buyer's market.

Zebra

I SUSPECT that the effects have probably begun, slowly, but I am only hearing anecdotal evidence so far. I wouldn't mind seeing more 'bang for the buck' as I am not a free spender. What I'd really like to see is an attitude improvement. There are always lots of good looking chicks, to my eyes, but the 'nose in the air' attitude turns me right off. Perhaps a dearth of customers might bring out a more 'user friendly' attitude. One can always hope.

By the way, my own opinion is that the economic downturn is just starting. If I am right, I think there will be serious repercussions here in CR. I just hope we don't see unemployed pimps making a career change into armed robbery.

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

Is the US recession making things better for mongers in Costa Rica?

I suppose it might be, however I think a better question might be "Is the US recession making things better for CR mongers left in the United States? If there are fewer US mongers in CR these days (theoretically making it better due to decreased demand for the guys that are there), how does that make it better for the guys that are here in the US. After all, the flip side of that argument is that there is a good reason why fewer of us are coming down or coming down less often. Money is tighter here. We're feeling less wealthy due to declining home prices. And oil costs (meaning jet fuel prices) are at record highs, which translates directly to fewer and fewer deals on airfares. If we pay more to get down there and then don't have as much money to take advantage of any lower chica costs, what good does it do? Put another way what good does squeezing an extra $10-20 off our daily chica session do us over a 5 day visit if we pay $100 more in airfare?

Add to that what is happening in the larger tico economy. USD-CRC exchange rates are down 10% from their peak just a few months ago and inflation which has always been higher in CR than it is in the US contniues as ever. This means that even if we did have the money to travel and we weren't paying more for airfare to get there, we'd be paying more for just about everything else besides chicas.

It doesn't surprise me at all if traffic is down at places like the BM. It also wouldn't surprise if at least for now chicas are reluctant to lower their prices from the rates they've become accustomed to. Can anyone list one MP's that has LOWERED their rates recently? IDEM just raised theirs through the roof. Rates are often stickier on the way down than they are on the way up. Eventually it might amount to something if it persists. It might also lead some of the higher priced (and arguably hotter) colombianas to go home rather than lower their rates, thereby partially offsetting any beneficial effect.

You can look for a silver lining all you want if it makes you feel better about things, but I don't see how anything that is going on with the US economy right now can add up to something positive for people in either country in the long run.

I wonder if we'll see the more influence from Asia? As the Chinese are getting chummy with Costa Rica, we can probably expect an increase in business travel from Asia to CR.

Myself, I don't see the impending recession in the US as a temporary thing so much as an incremental readjustment - and one of many to come. The USA has been regarded as the wealthiest country in the world and the most powerful since probably the end of WWI.

Jingoistic attitudes have made our fathers and some of our grandfathers ASSUME that we'd be at the top of the pile forervermore. I don't think this is so.

There are what, 80 million people in Brasil? This is nearly 1/3 of the US population.....The total economy of the ECC now eclipses ours....The Chinese have enough US$ in their foreign trade reserves to run our federal government for a year....We are becomming the drop in the bucket at the global scale.

Iran is ranting about the goal to trade oil in other currencies rather than the USD.

I might be young and full of gloomy predictions...but I just don't see how the disparity of wealth we have enjoyed can continue.

So to answer the question..considering probably the VAST majority of mongers going to CR are from the USA, then YES I think we'll see a readjustment.

I moved my investments primarily out of US markets and into European nearly 10 years ago, and I'm glad I did.

Does anyone have any credible opinions about how the trend will reverse...I don't think so. I don't think it can. The disparity of wealth is too wide.

We in the USA can't help but get on the roller coaster with the other rising economies.

For me if true not so much about shaving some money off a session but most importantly getting some noses out of the sky if you know what I mean. In the CR, U.S. or elsewhere.

Don't want to see a lot of people get hurt financially but a dose of reality sure can bring about an attitude.

Thanks for making this a vote. I think it has already made an impact.

thought that would be obvious. US economy affects every country

More on the economy and real estate bust would like to share a little info. I discovered this weekend while researching making a possible bid or 2 on some bank owned properties:

1200 Brickell Bay Dr. Miami, FL. There are 3 bank owned properties going to auction this week. 2 of them are now owned by Wells Fargo. Data as follows:

Last sales price and date Square footage

Oct. 2005/$600,000! 825 SF
Jan. 2006/$650,000! 818 SF
Oct. 2005/$480,000! 1105 SF

Ok sorry for the break in post. The other is by an individual owner. Anyway for those that haven't visited Brickell it is a very nice place but not quite like Manhattan since there aren't that many really high paying jobs to afford to pay those types of prices other than to flip.

Don't know if it was this exact building (there are many that have gone up during the boom) but one of them it was discovered 80% of the units were sold then re-sold over and over higher each time as part of an illegal racket and now 11 or so facing some charges and quite possibly jail time.

All this just an example of how it got really outta control and how the easy money was created.

I am in the travelling amusement business and frankly we make money when there is a recession. people don't have money to travel so they go to the fairs and festivals in the summertime. here in miami the rides were down $165K the first friday night. that is not chump change no matter how you look at it.

Dark days may very well be ahead for alot of us.

As for me, I will still keep going. less gringos can only account for better times there, and when it gets too expensive I will go somewhere else. there are cheaper destinations than CR, but when I get in that cab I feel like I am going home and I like that, so I will continue until I can't!

my trips account for such a small part of my overall expenses. I have no water bill, no electric, no mortgage, my company pays for my phone, internet, and fuel to go from place to place and I drive a company vehicle all week. my main problem is getting 2-3 or more days off in a row to go.

I tell people where I work that if they don't see me for 30 hours in a row I'm probably in Costa Rica.

QUOTE:

".....Here in Miami the rides were down $165k the first Friday night."

$165k ??..........As in ONE HUNDRED SIXTY FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS??

How much do they do on......a "good" night??

Uhhh...

This is one of the top 10 fairs in the USA. I think the rides did $2M last year here in 18 days but the weekends are much better so they do not even out. A good weekend night might get as much as $300k.

There are actually several CRT members working the fair. I probably know at least 6 who go. I even met 2 in ZB who turned out to be in the business and are working this fair

I often travel at the last minute. Making room reservations withing 2 weeks. For me the real test will be if I can get a room in the new section of the SL Wednesday thru Saturday. If I can then I will be certain that gringos are traveling less.

As a point of reference before 07 I could usually get a room. In 08 not once did I get a room!

Business is OFF for the chicas... that's the report I get from a couple of them. I better send $$$ now to keep them happy!

Berk.....

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