The point of Tourism?

[Curacao]

Hi all,

So far I have played four islands of Tropico. Won the first one easily, lost second and third (difficulty rating of around 98, I got in over my head) and won the last one (Diff rating of 79) with 300k+ in cash in year 2010 (open ended).
My entire economoy (last game) came from 3 tobacco farms +cigar factory, 3 coffee farms + cannery, and 2 gold mines. All along my goal was to finally build a good tourist trap. I never make it to tourism in time thats why I took an open ended game.
Finally, after LOTS of investment I had 2 hotels, 2 luxury hotels, plenty of sights, and a high tourism rating. HOWEVER: I let the game run for a few years, and my annual profit from tourism was only about 10k a year. At that rate it would take over a decade to earn back my investment ! (consider roads, whole new urban centre with housing for people who work in tourism, banks who initially lost much money, plus various attractions (arch site?!) never made any money, even with fees set low people wouldnt visit it.

Accidentally, I discovered the huge profits that can be had from a TV station (my first) and to a lesser extent radio.
Hypothesis: wouldn't it be more profitable in the long run to ignore tourism altogether?

Question: is it normal to need 10 years to build an airport?

[caddet]

My first observation on tourism was similar to yours.  But I found some things that help.  Your best tourism income is not from the hotels.  They are just a place for tourists to sleep between spending their money.  My first discovery was the improvement at the archealogical site.  I must have missed that one in the manual, but that is an important part of your tourism income.  Then be sure to build all levels of entertainment for the tourists - pubs, restaurants, gourmet restaurants, cabarets, night clubs, and even scenic overlooks.  Set dress codes to keep your islanders away and these become the "cash cow" of the tourism industry.  I haven't studied the numbers on these, because they aren't separate from the entertainment you set up for the locals, but I'll try to determine the best way to do that.  I'll probably have to do a building-by-building analyses over a few years.

[paomanz]

The airport thingy should be fixed by the second patch!

On the other hand, tourism keeps my economy alive!  One thing I discovered was that you shouldn't hire the maximum number of employees immediately!  Before filling up your empty employment slots make sure that your tourism rating in above 85!  Also, as an aside, the souvenir shop sucks!  They should have made it into a strip mall instead!

[Eddy]

But we already have showgirls and cabarets.

I have a question about dress codes.  Do they keep out Tropicans only?  What about low class tourists?  What about your wealthier citizens?

[Alastar]

hmm... my tourism strategy tends to work the other way round - quality, relatively cheap entertainment (this means your locals will use it as wel) to lure in lots of tourists and standard hotels with default prices - because the entertainment/tourists attractions are good, the hotel charges ridiculous amounts of money. in my most successful island, i have almost only high-class tourists although i don´t have a single luxury hotel (i decided to forgo electricity... a spotlessly clean environment does wonders for tourism). actually, the only buildings making a profit on that island are the hotels... hardly any industry anyway, virtually free houses for everybody, entertainment and tourist attractions break even at best, but the hotels make enough of a profit to finance all of that.

[Genu]

about dress code, when you set it to upper or whatever, it only keeps away those that never went to school like farmer and lumber jack. And i think it also keep away lower tourism


To get a good tourism economy up and running you should always start with cheap hotel, then you go up a lever with all the activities center you can build and then the final big luxury hotel.. if you start from the beginning with a medium hotel, you'll have trouble to make profit out of tourism

[suedenim]

Hmm, I'm not sure I agree with Gemu's analysis 100% here.  In one game, I tried starting with high-end tourism from the beginning, with a Luxury Hotel, high dress codes and prices, etc. and it was profitable right away.  

[Alastar]

imo, the key issue is environment. if you have a high environmental rating, spas and viewing points will satisfy high-end tourists (ratings in the 90ies). a bank (always useful) and maybe an archeological site to round things off and you´re done - for their other interests, they can use your basic entertainment facilities; they are usually preferable to more tourist attractions because they help satisfying the locals as well.

[Kendahlj]

If you have a high enough tourism rating, you can charge full price for a hotel and jack up the prices for your other buildings (nightclub, spa, etc.)  It doesn't matter what the cost, as long as you are attracting high class tourists.  If you check, almost all high class tourists have a spending limit of $50, which is max for all buildings anyway.

Also, if you have a lot of unemployed females on your island, think about building bungalows.  They can bring in a lot of money, but require one employee for just two tourists (sometimes one if he/she is not married).

[skot]

i love tourism, and i have done many different things with it - cheap tourism using the same dock as my freighters, high-end only, etc.  i like the middle-high end better, though, and i have now gotten to where i will build a hotel, beach site, pub, cabaret, spa, dedicated dock, etc., all before i let my first yacht come in.  they will be waiting like vultures, and then i open the dock for business, and they come pouring in.  i also jack up the price for beach site and spa, but i keep the pub, cabaret, etc. kind of low (though high enough to keep most of my Tropicans out, and i always use a dress code).  seems to work for me...


-skot

[Genu]

i really can't understand how you can manage to build the Electric Plant needed for high end tourist right from the beginning... even with the arrangement with USA, you still have to pay about 11k for it... plus 10k for the hotel, and then you only have an hotel built....

That's why you have to start with low or medium tourist... they cost almost nothing to set up, and its a good way to get money right from the start

[Coconut Kid]

First, look at the thread "Tourism - Examined Comprehensively"
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/tropico/cafe/index.php?topic=10971.0

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Hypothesis: wouldn't it be more profitable in the long run to ignore tourism altogether?
Question: is it normal to need 10 years to build an airport?

The objective of the game is not just to make a pile of money. It is to remain in power for the designated period of time.

It is not normal to need ten years to build an Airport. By proper planning and by selecting a proper site, you should have one built must faster.