Tourists and returnees are regarded as geese with golden eggs to lay

Aug 29, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor,
Two recent letters caught my attention, both about what I usually refer to as “the tourist tax”. One concerns bribes for “things shipped to Guyana”, the other is about higher fares for a trip to the Kaieteur Falls .
I have experienced similar overcharging not only in Guyana but in Europe, the USA and in Africa. In 1992, in Egypt, when I mentioned to a young man that I was asked US$3.00 for a small, warm can of coca cola by a street vendor (which I did not buy), he giggled and told me that there were two prices, one for tourists and one for local people.
A few years ago in Manhattan, I bought 10 postcards for US$1.00 and 4 airmail postage stamps from a souvenir shop, and asked for them to be ‘bagged’ while I walked around the shop. The bag was handed to me sealed, and I was charged US$5.00 for the postcards plus stamps. This meant that I was charged US$1.00 per stamp – I later discovered that the postage stamps were officially 70 cents each. An overcharge of 30 cents per stamp.
My worst experience (in 1985), however, was in Italy, where the national currency included a 10,000 lira note (about £5 sterling, as I recall)and a 1,000 lira note. We constantly got mixed up with these two notes, until we realized they were different colors.
I handed over two 10,000 lira notes instead of 1,000 each for two souvenir ballpoint pens and did not realize it until long after the coach had left the area, in the shadow of the basilica of Assisi! No wonder the two salesgirls were smirking.
However, in the country of one’s birth this ‘tax’ is very painful, as it is virtually a penalty for spending time abroad. And one’s countrymen have an instinct for pinpointing people they describe as “foreigners”.
The chap who paid $G5,000 to clear his stuff got off lightly – in 1994, I had to hand over to the shipping office G$12,500 to clear stuff I had been using for over 20 years, although I was assured by the shippers in London that no further payment would be required from me.
Tourists and returnees are regarded as geese with golden eggs to lay and, as far as I can see, will always be treated as such. I have already related my experience, as a returnee in the mid-1990s, of being charged G$100,000 for a building repair job which those in the know said should have cost between G$2,000 and G$3,000, and paying G$64,000 for a dental job which my regular dentist said should have cost between $G4,000 and G$5,000.
The best way to ‘hit back’ is to demand an official receipt and then forward it to the Inland Revenue Department – you may not get any of your money back, but the money grabbers should have to hand some of it to the IRD, to help the ‘poor economy’. The alternative is to shop around – there are still honest people in the community. It would be a pity to have to miss the many beautiful spots of Guyana.
Geralda Dennison

Latest News

Tourists and returnees are regarded as geese with golden eggs to lay

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | November, 6th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

$1.5M up for grabs at K&S National Futsal Championship

Big Names Ready for Group 4 Showdown at ENET...

West Indies hammer England in series decider

Guyana Amazon Warriors confirm squad for 2024...

Excitement brews ahead of Hamilton Green’s KO...

SAMUEL FOO wins SEN School’s Chess Competition

Features/Columnists

A broad-based movement for the people’s voice on oil

Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all

That ever-present ‘they’

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Tourists and returnees are regarded as geese with golden eggs to lay

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | November, 6th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]