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| Subject: Re: Puerto Vallarta: Goose, Golden Egg, etc.
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Posted on: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 22:20:57 +0000 (UTC)
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"Bert Hyman" wrote in message
news:Xns97859668D5850VeebleFetzer@127.0.0.1...
> mpmck@mail.utexas.edu (Mike McKinley) wrote in
> news:dv4k44$onh$2@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu:
>> "Bert Hyman" wrote in message
>> news:Xns97857BE0E5C99VeebleFetzer@127.0.0.1...
>>> mpmck@mail.utexas.edu (Mike McKinley) wrote in
>>> news:dv4b7o$kqn$2@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu:
>>>> "Bert Hyman" wrote in message
>>>> news:Xns97856CD965DABVeebleFetzer@127.0.0.1...
>>>>> My wife and I just got back from PV where we encountered a new
>>>>> (to us, after a 6 year absence) and annoying phenomenon.
>>>>> Now, we've grown accustomed to encountering timeshare and
>>>>> excursion salesmen camping out on street corners, in their
>>>>> little street-front cubbyholes and even on the grounds of our
>>>>> own hotel (the Krystal has its own timeshare operation) and know
>>>>> how to smile and keep on walking.
>>>>> But this time, we were accosted by salesmen operating as clerks
>>>>> and such inside ordinary retail stores. After several such
>>>>> encounters, my wife simply lost any interest in browsing or
>>>>> shopping anywhere. Can downtown PV survive with nothing but
>>>>> timeshare outlets and restaurants?
>>>>> On the plus side, the restaurant selection in PV continues to be
>>>>> absolutely outstanding.
>>>> So, the Krystal is downtown?
>>> No; it's still where it's always been.
>> You miss my point, but no matter.
> Your point didn't matter? Now, that's interesting.
> But then, what ->was your point?
> You did say:
> " I thought it was up in the highly developed northern part of town.
> Which is where I would expect the hawkers to be thickest."
> which is an incorrect observation. The Krystal is in the northern end
> of the old hotel zone just south of the marina, but since there's
> little foot traffic there, there are practically no "hawkers" on the
> street.
I would only observe that the northern end of the old hotel zone is the
area of tremendous recent development and as you mentioned that you have a
time share sales office in your hotel, the fact that they are in the hotels
and not on the street seems to be of little consequence to their ability to
hassle tourists.
> The bulk of the timeshare and excursion pushers operate out of little
> streetfront cubicles on streets with heavy pedestrian traffic in
> downtown and Olas Atlas.
> I observed that they're now also operating ->inside traditional
> retail stores, with the pushers also working as clerks or
> salespeople in those stores.
I have been going to PV at least twice (often three times) a year for
over five years and I always stay south of the Rio Cuale, in an area I find
to be certainly touristy, but nothing like the mega-developments and
all-inclusives which seem to cater to gringos in the northern part of the
city and up toward Nuevo Vallarta, the Sam's Club, the Walmart and all that
heinosity. In the area around and south of the Rio Cuale, I find the the
hawkers inoffensive, and, especially, if you speak to them in Spanish, they
learn quickly that you're not a traditional mark and they leave you alone.
Of course, if you go into a shop selling Huichol art and they offer a $500
piece to you for $20 -- come on, whaddya expect? It's going to be a
time-share scam.
Then again, I came of age on the Texas-Mexican border and I got used to
Mexican curio hawkers at a very tender age.
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