Red-Light District Hit By Tight-Fisted Tourists
05/06/2009 22:09
Eva, a 25-year-old
prostitute in Amsterdam's red-light district,
gestures angrily in the direction of a rival
who has slashed her rates as the economic
crisis emboldens sex tourists to
haggle."People like her make it very difficult for the rest of us," scowled the tall, blonde Estonian in skimpy black-and-white lingerie as she dragged on a cigarette while posing for men passing the window in which she offers herself.
"Some of the girls are now doing it for 30 euros (A$70). My price is still 50 euros, but the men are playing us off against each other. Some want to pay only 20 euros," she said.
Eva is not the only one complaining.
As the credit crunch keeps away sightseers and business travellers, owners of brothels, escort agencies and sex shops grumble that visitors who still do indulge in the pleasures of the flesh are increasingly tight-fisted.
"Things are bad," said Dave Doeve, who owns Casa Rosso sex shop in Amsterdam's red-light district where neon-lit prostitutes' windows normally draw hoards of tourists.
"There are no people, as you can see. And those who come buy small things, condoms, cheap things."
Brothel owner Willy van der Sloot, herself a former prostitute, said she had never seen the sex market so depressed.
More tight-fisted news here.
SINC SAYS:
That “tight-fisted” comment in the story and the headline had me giggling out loud. ‘Course the boys at the bar tell me you should drop over to their house if you wanna see a depressed sex market.
