Another of the many choices of ways to rake in cash that a good Caribbean dictator has at his disposal is, of course, tourism. Who doesn't enjoy visiting a tropical paradise every now and again? Hopefully you'll set aside at least a portion of your island in which you keep it looking like a tropical paradise, and if you're really smart, you'll separate it from the rest of the island (read: the polluted, densely populated, highly trafficked area). Ideally, you'll want to have your tourists arrive, check into a hotel, go sightseeing (and spending), and leave--all without ever letting them see anything that they wouldn't recommend to their friends back home.

Doing this fairly well is essential if you're going to have any chance of achieving a high tourism rating. Setting up such an area isn't cheap, but the monetary rewards you'll reap once you've got a bustling tourism industry going strong make the gain well worth the pain. The main descriptors of the quality of tourist structures are either Base Tourism Quality (BTQ) for tourist-only structures or Base Entertainment Quality (BEQ) for structures that your residents can use as well. For all hotel structures, you may choose to have the game automagically adjust the fee to maintain occupancy anywhere between halfway and completely booked; make use of this feature to ensure that you keep enough tourists on your island to make you cash, but not so many as to create a mess where there isn't enough to do to keep everyone happy.

You can't place the archaeological site yourself; you must upgrade a current site to let tourists visit. For all other structures in this section, you'll need a hotel of some sort nearby, or you won't be allowed to build. Getting a good-sized tourism industry going is another good way to build rapport among the local capitalists.

Bungalow

If you're looking to start a small low-class tourist area for cheap, bungalows will help you reach your goal; otherwise, stay away from them; their BTQ is a despicable 7, and they only hold one couple. You're not going to impress anyone nor will you bring in significant revenue through the use of bungalows. Wait until you have a more respectable budget before getting into the tourism industry and pass on the bungalow altogether.

Cheap Hotel

The cheapest way to get a respectable foot in the door of the tourism business is to erect a cheap hotel near your coastline and add to it a few cheap improvements, such as a beach site. This hotel won't bring you any rich tourists with pockets bulging with cash waiting to be spent, but it will get you started, and its BTQ of 30--while not good per se--is good enough to earn you repeat customers. Its price tag of $3,000 won't break your bank, either.

Hotel

The epitome of a standard hotel, the hotel will bring in wealthier middle-class tourists with more cash to spend on your attractions than will the cheap hotel. Additionally, it will hold two couples more than the cheap hotel and will provide a better overall experience (BTQ of 50), letting you charge a higher fee. As long as you have attractions for your tourists to visit, the hotel is a much better option than its cheaper brother.

Tourists!

Luxury Hotel

Once you've got some top-notch attractions lined up for your tourists (spas, archaeological sites, gourmet restaurants, and so on), consider building a luxury hotel. These puppies hold a lot of tourists and just the thing for the "money burns a hole in my pocket, so I have to spend it quickly" type. Bring these people in, and they'll be just dying to help fill your coffers. This structure has a pricey tag of $10,000 and requires a heavy 15Mw of electricity as well, but the money it brings in is impressive, and its BTQ is through the roof.

Pool

The pool is an excellent attraction for tourist centers that use cheap hotels or hotels to house their occupants; its BEQ of 60 will raise the quality of nearby hotels of those types, and it'll make you money to boot. You can't beat that deal. For upscale tourist areas containing a luxury hotel, you'll probably want to install a spa instead, as a pool will bring the area's tourist rating down. Keep an eye on the people frequenting the area; if they're mainly middle-class tourists, you may want to enable the upscale dress code option, which will keep the riffraff out and subsequently raise the entertainment quality of the pool.

Beach Site

Another good option to entertain your lower- and middle-class tourists is the beach site. It has a slightly lower BEQ than the pool and won't bring in the revenue of a pool, but its price of $500 is unbeatable. As with the pool, you can turn on the upscale dress code if you should decide you need a higher entertainment quality rating. Be sure to check your visitors first, however--should you turn this option on when you're entertaining mainly lower-class tourists, you'll kick them out. I guarantee they won't be happy with that; what good is a higher entertainment quality rating if there's nobody there to be entertained?

Nothing like a relaxing day at the beach...

Spa

An upper-class tourist Mecca, every upscale tourist area should have at least one spa. It's the structure with the highest BEQ in the game, and as such, it will help raise the tourism rating no matter where it's located. Enabling the upscale dress code will boost the entertainment quality even more. Its only downside is the fact that it holds only nine tourists, with three citizens attending them (the pool holds sixteen on two attendants). Don't let that stop you, though. Spas are a must if you want to bring in the richest tourists available.

Scenic Outlook

A more expensive alternative (or complement to) the beach site, the scenic outlook also has a BEQ of 50, with an option to raise that by switching from mimeographed handouts to a four-color brochure. Just don't use it on an upper-class area, or you risk bringing down the local entertainment quality.

Archaeological Site

You can't build an archaeological site; instead, you upgrade a current site with a research/visitor center. You should always do this; it only costs $2,000, and the money you'll rake in (assuming you have tourists frequenting your island) is impressive. The site does, however, require two college-educated residents to staff it. Its BEQ of 70 is middle-of-the road between middle- and upper-class tourists, but you can upgrade to a four-color brochure to bring it up a bit should you so desire.

Souvenir Shop

Excellent for lower- and middle-class tourists, the souvenir shop will attract your tourists with its displays of T-shirts or more ritzy arts and crafts; the choice is yours. As you've surely figured out by now, a BEQ of 35 isn't good enough for your luxury tourist areas, so keep souvenir shops out of the way of your rich tourists.
 

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