Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder
Jun 8th, 2008 by Kevin
A very one-sided story today in the Chicago tribute by Arthur Frommer about the exploitation of Nicaraguan poverty by real estate investors. He titles it ‘Beauty with an Ugly Side’. Frankly, I am a little surprised that such narrow view would come from such a respected expert in the travel industry. Apparently he is ok to keep Nicaragua as a cheap tourist destination for travelers wanting to experience culture but is “horrified and offended by the sales pitches for great deals on real estate”. Maybe this will help keep book sales up? He goes on to say that that (paraphrasing) these investors are exploiting the poverty of the Nicaraguan people. Come on Arthur! - do you really thing the cheap backpacking tourists there to experience some culture are going to be the ones to help Nicaragua get out of its poverty status? It will be foreign investors that do this, partnering with the Nicaraguan government, local officials, and hiring local workers. The Nicaraguan government even understands this hence the creation of Law 306. Granted, in every area where this is opportunity there will be exploitation by some. There will be unscrupulous real estate sellers who will exploit locals as well as the retirees who are buying the property. It us up to the rest of us to alienate and drive this type of behavior out of Nicaragua. These types of individuals are not limited to Nicaragua and this is no different than in developing countries. However many investors in Nicaragua have goals and missions to help give back to the country that is providing them with so much business opportunity. Coastal Dreams Worldwide has this type of outlook and so do our partners, many of whom are expats living and working in Nicaragua.
One other note for anyone that reads the article - take a look at the comments. The first responder - John from South Carolina, who was in the peace corp - try’s to support the author and argue that people like Ortega and Chavez are rising in popularity some how due to wealthy foreigners coming in to Nicaragua? If I was reading between the lines - it almost sounds like he thinks these individuals are good for central America, however he does come back to ride the fence in the end stating that tourists and the tourism industry need to be more responsible.
It will be responsible capitalism that takes Nicaragua out of poverty, not self serving socialist regimes. (see more here and here as well)
