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Below is an article link about world-wide tourism harassment that I found interesting...the government is trying to make changes here in Jamaica and at the bottom there is a survey that can be filled out that is being conducted globally to study/prevent tourist harassment...
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/n...gy-says-expert
The survey link...
http://visitorharassment.com/
Hi Lisa, I filled out the visitor harassment survey but in actuality I gave Negril a glowing report. Oh, I did mention a few harassment problems but they were few and far between for me. Guess I look to mean for them eh. :rolleyes:
Hey that's our home town Purdue University doing the survey~~~
saying "NO" usually ends the conversation so there isn't any harassment......
problem wi have today is dat there are way more unemployed Jamaicans in Negril than I have ever seen before.....way more
Cool Runnings, Marko
Saying "no thank you" USED to end the conversation. Now you have to say "no" until you are blue in the face ~25% of the time. Just last week a Rasta higgler on the beach threatened me when I became fed up with his persistent & obnoxious behavior - "Hey white boy I'll cut your head off". Encounters like this one have become more common in my experience.
Yes, this... and when people on here say "it doesn't happen!" or "just say no and it stops right away!" they must be either in denial, don't leave their AI resort, or are there so often they are "locals" and aren't bothered any more.Quote:
Originally Posted by wha gwan
Every trip I've had at least one or two unpleasant experiences. Sometimes more. Being polite, friendly, saying "respect", all that stuff, with some of these guys just doesn't work. I told one guy on my last trip in July who wouldn't stop following me down the beach, after I told him repeatedly I'm not interested, that I wasn't going to buy anything or give him money, after he got more aggressive and demanding, that if he didn't get the **** away from me he was going to have a problem. That made him stop. I shouldn't have to do that! (I'm also not a large or intimidating guy, and for me to do that I was definitely outside my comfort zone). I also shouldn't be cursed at, in English or patois or any other language because I don't want to give money to beggars or buy a bracelet or drugs or be harassed. I shouldn't have guys yell after me and follow me down the beach because for the 100th time that day I was talked to and didn't stop. It's not disrespectful for me to not stop because you want to sell me something - it's disrespectful for THEM to not accept a pleasant "no thanks!" and a wave and keep pushing it beyond that.
How about some RESPECT for the tourists who are there pumping the jamaican economy full of money? Those who are actually outside the AIs are the last people they should be harassing - they are the ones most directly contributing to the local economy instead of giving their cash to AIs for it to be sent back to Spain or wherever the AI owners are from. That money certainly isn't staying in Negril or JA in general.
Yet I still go back, twice a year most years... What's different is when I want to go bar hopping or walking the beach, I do it alone - my wife stays behind and reads her book because she just can't take it. I spend less time looking for out of the way places to eat and drink, and fewer people are getting some of my tourist dollars.
If anything can be done about the harassment it will be a boon for the legitimate businesses in Negril.
HarryS,
I agree that can be the case. On our usual winter trip we have our safe place, the portion of the beach that knows us and we are not hassled beyond the no thank you level. This summers trip was a totally different experience, different part of the beach with people that didn't know us. I dealt with it but was with someone new that made a statement that could be viewed as an offer to possibly buy something and it went down hill from there. I got him out of it but it was an ordeal and I don't want to do that again.
That being said we are booked for February and are taking newbies. May need to offer a little more advanced education prior to the trip. It'll also be back in our winter spot.
Sorry but I must add that this was at night on the beach. We didn't have any problems beyond the norm during the day.
I like to stay at new places each trip, at different areas of the beach and cliffs so maybe that's why I'm not recognized and get bothered more. Sometimes we will stay at 3 different hotels in a 10 day trip, and in that respect when we arrive at each hotel we are "fresh meat" and I deal with the same questions over and over... just got here? Where are you staying? How long? When are you leaving? All questions that are being asked to gain very specific information about me, and not to be friendly. I have learned not to give specific answers to these types of questions. We're staying "down the beach" or "on the west end" and I always say we are staying "for a while", never telling locals when we're leaving. I've read stories here of peoples rooms being robbed on their last night, when there just isn't time to do anything about it (like police reports and whatnot) due to having to catch flights. (Yes, I realize this is rare are far from the norm, but why take chances?)
You know what else I hate? When they act all insulted when you don't stop, that they just want to be friendly and chat, and that there must be something wrong with US because we don't want to stop and chat with strangers every hundred yards down the beach.
Lets cut the crap - they don't just want to chat, they aren't just trying to be friendly - they are trying to separate tourists from their money, and that's it.
Don't get me wrong - in our trips we've made friends with locals, vendors, business owners, and we look forward to seeing them each time we visit, hearing about their lives, and spending money in their establishments. We are not anti-social people, and my wife is always amazed that I'll strike up conversations with random people... but no one who has ever started off by harassing us in any way has ended up as our "friend".