Do all-inclusive resorts make crime and poverty worse?

February 6, 2022 1:12 PM

When people want to vacation in a place, but crime and poverty are very bad there, they are more likely to choose an all-inclusive resort for their safety (among other considerations), as opposed to a hotel in the community. An all-inclusive resort certainly employs local people, buys local things, and pays taxes to the local government, all good things for the people who live there -- but it is in the interest of the resort that conditions outside it should be as unappetizing to tourists as possible. When a mega-corp has an interest in something, it tends to happen. Is there any data on the overall effects of all-inclusive resorts on the communities surrounding them?
posted by pH Indicating Socks to Travel & Transportation (8 answers total)

I can't help you on data, but I think you have a fallacy here: " . . . but it is in the interest of the resort that conditions outside it should be as unappetizing to tourists as possible."

Um, no. The goal of the resort is to make the inside of the resort more comfortable/appealing to the un-adventerous than going outside the resort. Some people don't want to deal with trying to speak another language, would rather eat from a buffet than eat street food or choose a restaurant, and find it a lot easier to do a trip with kids where everything is contained on a few acres.

At some point, if the outside is too scary, people won't even bother going to that country/place. See Haiti, Lebanon, Nicaragrua, etc.
posted by ITravelMontana at 1:41 PM on February 6, 2022 [41 favorites]

If it's really all inclusive, it's in their economic interest for the guests to go elsewhere for (some) meals and anything else that creates a variable expense. Plus, if they get you to rent a scooter or a car or something from an on-site agency they can continue to charge rent to our extract commissions from said agency.
posted by wierdo at 1:44 PM on February 6, 2022 [17 favorites]

On preview, what the others are saying - I don't think it's particularly in an all-inclusive resort's interest for the area around the resort to be really unappealing, because some folks are still going to wander out from their all-inclusive resort to visit local places, and if they get robbed or murdered that *is* going to be associated with the resort. I've only been to an all-inclusive resort once (tagging along with someone who won the trip through work), and my personal all-inclusive resort strategy was "all the food and drinks in here are paid for, why on earth would I buy food/liquor elsewhere?" but most of the people I know who visit all-inclusives regularly do like to get out of the resort and they take tours or go out to off-resort restaurants/bars for a couple of evenings.
posted by mskyle at 1:48 PM on February 6, 2022 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: OK, points taken, thank you for your opinions -- but I was really hoping for data.
Does anyone know where I might find real information on the effects of all-inclusive resorts on surrounding communities?
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 1:54 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I also question the premise. Consider Acapulco.
posted by goodbyewaffles at 1:56 PM on February 6, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I think the main way all-inclusives are seen as bad for the community is that there's a lot of "leakage" - i.e. money that doesn't stay in the destination country. This paper, The Economic Impact of All-Inclusive Resorts in Jamaica cites a paper (white paper?) I couldn't find online that says that only 20% of the money people spend on trips to the Caribbean remains in the Caribbean. There's lots of research about the impact of all-inclusive resorts on their communities out there.
posted by mskyle at 2:15 PM on February 6, 2022 [13 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks, mskyle! I forget that there is primary literature for questions like this.

From Zopiatis 2020:
"As it stands, [all-inclusive travel] remains problematic in the development of sustainable tourism, as, in economic terms, local communities tend to be excluded or at the very least marginalized; at the same time, they have to endure the resulting adverse social and environmental effects."

From myskyle's first link:
"Ironically, the Jamaican government runs into debt as they welcome visitors for all-inclusive resorts. Moreover, spending an enormous amount of money on infrastructure may reduce government investment in other critical areas such as education and health. Hence, building infrastructure does not always help to improve the quality of local Jamaicans’ lives, but rather has unfavorable economic effects on the country."

So though I was imagining something more sinister, it is bad enough that (1) Little of the money spent through all-inclusive travel makes it to the local economy, and (2) Money spent by the host country on things that primarily benefit the resorts and their customers is money not spent on things that directly benefit the local people.
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 3:01 PM on February 6, 2022 [5 favorites]

Cruise ships are a peculiar type of all-inclusive resort. They are famous for gathering a large fraction of money spent ashore by steering passengers to stores and attractions that they own or get a kickback from.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:42 AM on February 7, 2022 [2 favorites]