Wednesday 20 November 2013

More money - Cuban money this time.

This news may have passed you by:

In the past, Cuba has worked with a dual currency, one for tourists and another for local people, effectively ensuring that tourists pay higher prices.

This dual-pricing system is common in developing countries. There has been much discussion on travel forums about this - for what it's worth, I don't have a problem with it. If I can afford to fly there, it's reasonable to assume I can pay a little more for my museum entrance or my supper.

Yet Cuba is the only country to enshrine the practice in two currencies, and now it is to be fazed out: the details are on the BBC website here. It's very unclear when the process will begin, or how it will happen -  but I recall similar concerns prior to decimalisation and that worked out ok.

Yet I do foresee some confusion when I go there in January - for me and for the Cubans. For I've met complex currencies before.

Let me give you an example: in Cambodia they have three currencies, the Cambodian riel, the Thai baht and the US dollar. It is common to be paid in one and get change in another. In the process of this exchange it is also common for the rate to vary, thus ensuring the tourist is a cent or two worse off than he or she ought to be.

Does that matter? There are those who believe that it does: ripping people off is always wrong, and tourists should make a point of challenging this process to promote a fairer cross-cultural exchange. Then there are those who recognise that a cent or two means little to the tourists, but - added to the next cent and the next - can buy a meal for a family, and they shrug off any discrepancy.

And now I shall probably be faced with this dilemma in Cuba. Which side of the fence do you sit?

9 comments:

  1. How very confusing but if there is only one currency by the time you go there maybe it will be easier but I suspect lots of places with still be charging tourist prices. In Turkey the currency changed from Turkish lira to new Turkish lira it went from you counting in millions to just single numbers its the first time I've felt like a millionaire. They now accept Euros too and that annoys me so much. If you go to a shop and prices are in lira you then have to ask them how much in lira and have to take their word for it and I have lost out a few times. At duty free in the airport everything is in Euros and I once bought perfume thinking it was in lira and a bargain, I paid by card and not until we were sent the bill did I realise the perfume was about three times the price I expected it to be. I can't get my head around why the government would allow them to trade in Euros when it's not the currency of the country. The only thing that horrifies them is Scottish notes,lol!

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    1. It will be interesting to see if they carry on trading in Euros if the currency wobbles. But my guess is Euros being a stronger currency (so easier to sell at a profit) that Turkish lira. Plus every exchange is an opportunity for a little financial hanky-panky. (That's how it works in Cambodia.)

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  2. Sorry that should say prices in shops are in Euros.

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  3. Goodness, that must be confusing, Jo! We have a bit of cross border shenannigans every time we come to the UK because many places around London accept Euros, but give you change in pounds. They always tell me I'll be worse off, so 'do you really want to do this?' which I appreciate. I don't like being ripped off, but if I know it will cost me extra and I have the choice, then I don't mind. I always feel it should be a matter for individual negotiation! In the case of Cambodia, well, I guess I wouldn't worry about the odd cent however often it occurred. Those people have so little....

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    1. I agree, Val - I don't have a problem with people shaving off the odd cent here and there. It's only the Serious Scammers I challenge!

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  4. Good point, Jo. When we travel, we expect to be ripped off. I don't mind handing over extras to poor countries, but places like the UK shouldn't rip you off in my opinion. But really, all money exchanges are there to make a profit, so we do need the convenience. I try not to let the little things niggle at me. If I can afford to travel, I can afford to help those less fortunate.

    Denise

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    1. Thank you, Denise - I agree. Little things are just that - little things. There's not point in letting them irritate us. And how fortunate I am, to be able to travel as I do - when there are so many in the world who have never even seen the sea.

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  5. Blogger has decided that my friend, Christine, is an alien, and refuses to let her comment. So she's sent me an email - and this is what she'd like to say:

    I agree that there should be two prices for tourist attractions and national museums and monuments in developing countries. Tourists have the money to pay the higher price and, even if they have had to save hard for their holiday, they have come prepared to spend that money. It is part of their disposable income. The local people do not have the same level of income and if they had to pay the tourist prices they would not be able to visit their national heritage sites. If tourists paid the local rates then the curators of the national heritage sites would not be able to maintain them.

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  6. I let it go if I am a tourist. When I have lived in places with this "dual" system I have always insisted on paying the price for the local foreigners. I am not sure there is any right answer. It is never good to set oneself up as a "mark" and paying the extra is never appreciated, I suspect, but on the other hand I loathe quibbling over pennies. You must let us know what you end up doing in Cuba.

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