I recently decided it was time for another trip to Mexico; so here I am on a London - Mexico City flight, very excited by the idea of going back to places I fell in love with in the past years, and of visiting places I have not been yet… (How come every time I look at Mexico’s map this country looks bigger to me?)
Well, we are not there yet, so let’s try to relax and ‘enjoy the flight’, as the airline recommends…
I have never been overly interested in reading in-flight magazines; they are typically full of advertising, especially by resort developers threatening to build up luxury beach condos on every centimetre of coast left on this planet. This one I have found on my seat is no exception, featuring an article called Catch the Wave, specifically addressed to “American baby boomers: a generally adventurous group with significant amount of disposable income”.
The article is an invitation to consider alternative countries when looking for investments with regards to holiday homes; why buy a small condo for 1 million in Florida when you can have a luxury beach-front property for 250k in Nicaragua, Panama or Honduras? These countries - the article goes on – have miles of pristine beaches, lakes and rainforests. Of course the final bait is a list of recent visitors which include several movie stars. Now that we are convinced by the prospect, let’s retire there and have afternoon teas with Michael Douglas!
Most of the development projects sound quite scary, like the one on a small island in Honduras including the construction of 2 golf courses, polo courts, a 900 room hotel, plus the extension of the current pier for Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruises. To my surprise, the article also mentions a small estate company set up by an ex marine biologist in a little beach town in Panama. He offers moderately priced beach-front homes, and with part of the company’s income he funded some local projects, like a school for indigenous people, an experimental farm, and a number of environmental conservation activities.
Well done Mr. ‘Alternative Developer’!! Are you the only wealthy angel in those paradise islands?
I wonder if there are any strategies, policies or legislation in these developing countries that help to reduce the negative impacts from new developments… certainly governments should support those entrepreneurs who are trying to give something back to the local communities.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, April 18th, 2007 at 6:24 pm and is filed under sustainable development.
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