Ignoring the Tourists

By on April 22, 2004 in Ideas


Wall Street Journal: “It’s tough to make your business stand out in a resort town, where everyone offers the same mix of T-shirts and party food. But in Cozumel, Mexico, Jess Ruiz and Daisy Rubi, a married couple from the Philippines, have figured out a way not to depend on the jaded, seen-it-all Americans who seem as mass-produced as souvenirs they pick through here. Instead of catering to the tourists, Jess and Daisy cater to the people who cater to the tourists. The couple run a Philippine Restaurant here on this resort island off the tip of Mexico’s Yucatán, one of the Caribbean’s busiest destinations for U.S. cruise ships. Their lunch counter is a runaway success, opening in January near the city’s main pier, then spawning a second outlet a few miles away. The two entrepreneurs succeeded by exploiting a niche ignored by the rest of the venders: Jess and Daisy went to Vacationland and ignored the vacationers.”

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Business Opportunities Weblog editor and publisher Dane Carlson lives in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, just 15 miles from Yosemite National Park. He accidentally became a professional blogger in 2001. He has added 12,198 posts to the site.

Another Idea: How to Start a Party Catering Business


  • danakeith

    Nice idea..
    Congratulations!