Special Price for you Sir! Dual Pricing
Posted by Dan on September 09, 2009 in Worldview
It happens is just about all developing nations, one price for you and another for the locals, Dual Pricing, Luxury Tax or whatever you happen to call it, it gets up everyone’s nose at some point.
For many travelers it’s very high on their annoyances list, a blatant rip off, racism even.
I hate tourist prices too but I’m not talking about when I’m traveling. One of my previous workplaces was in a tourist town, here regardless of the color of your skin or what nationality your passport declares, everyone, locals and tourists alike are forced to pay exorbitant prices to eat, drink and visit the local attractions. To me this is a perfect example of a place where dual pricing would be justified.
When I first came across this debate I asked a simple question. What is the alternative? We know the travelers want equal pricing, everyone pays the same and we are all happy. But are we? In reality these attractions are businesses and businesses are there to make money, it is completely naive to think that in order to achieve equal pricing that the price for tourists would be lowered. It is far more likely that the price for locals would simply be raised. Fair? Maybe for the tourists, but in the developing countries were dual pricing is common it has just put entry out of the reach of many locals. I guess the other question you have to ask in this case is if it is fair to exclude locals from visiting their own historical, natural, cultural and other attractions simply to make tourists feel like they are getting a fair deal?
On the other hand are things like purchasing groceries, long term accommodation, transport, etc. For expats and long stay travelers this is a real and justified annoyance. Why, even when you know vendors and buy repeatedly do you have to bargain down to the real price every single time? You could be standing next to a rich local dressed in gold leaf suit while you’re in your flip flops and dirty old shorts and t-shirt and be asked a price many times that of what he is being charged, it’s downright offensive. In these cases we have to accept it to a degree and find ways of dealing with it. A common practice is simply to hand over the correct amount and walk away, hopefully without the vendor screaming “thief!”. Speaking the language always helps or having a local partner to do the haggling is sure to get you a better deal.
What do you think about dual pricing and how do you handle it?
Tiny URL for this post: http://tinyurl.com/2cqavds
I can see both sides of this argument.
On one hand, it does suck to go someplace and be charged extra simply because you’re not a local.
On the other hand, in many places that have this kind of system, your currency is worth quite a bit more than theirs, so instead of paying $.50, you’re paying $1. Perhaps over time this adds up, but though $.50 doesn’t mean much to most Americans, it could mean a whole lot to someone in another country.
The Objectivist in me is throwing fits right now, wanting me to say that pricing should be the same for everyone, regardless of their economic class, cultural background or country of origin. The Practicalist (a school of thought I made up just now) in me wants to argue in favor of going with the flow, negotiating down when you can, but keeping in mind the realities of the situation and not being too sore if you end up paying a little bit more than the guy next to you.
When I was in Rwanda last February, there were separate prices for “Rwandan Nationals” and for “Foreigners” in the brochures to go see silver-back gorillas. While I was frustrated that the foreign price was too high for me
, I knew that: 1) higher prices effectively preserve the area by limiting traffic and 2) lower prices for Rwandans provides a psychological/economic incentive for local citizens to see the country.
Yeah to me it is pretty reasonable to see it for tourist activities. It doesn’t price out locals and I’m pretty happy to help provide the subsidy to allow them to see and learn about their own country.
For goods and services though I think while there are exceptions a lot of people feel they are just being ripped off, I expect to pay more as a tourist but its got to be reasonable, as an expat or long stayer there are plenty of arguments for it being marginal at best.
Heya!
I’ve actually never been to a country that has Dual Pricing, this is the first time I hear about it. Guess I need to get out more
I think it would actually be good for the local economy of poor and developing countries to have a dual pricing system. I know that in some countries the average wage is like $200-$300 per month! Which is crazy if they have to pay the same price as tourists who make a few thousand $ a month.
Thanks for sharing!
Im curious, where did you come up with your blog name Voyagner?
Cheers
Diggy
@Diggy I guess it was just the Voyager was of course taken doing the Flickr thing and making it Voyagr didn’t seem right and Voyagner sounded ok to me. I think it is a nice brandable name so I’m happy with it.
Great post title btw. I think the pricing scheme really depends on the place and the conditions. Generally I think these dual-pricing systems aren’t really thought out well and are somewhat arbitrary. One low price and one high price – how do they come up with the numbers?