Thailand's "go-go girls" are hurting for business, up to half of the Czech Republic's sex establishments have shuttered, and Mustang Ranch in Reno, Nev., has laid off 30 percent of its staff. Just like most industries, international sex tourism is getting spanked by the recession and, according to Time, its response has been just as ordinary: Promotional "free shuttle buses, senior-citizen discounts and day passes!" Souvenir mugs and sex worker raffles must be next.
Think I'm joking? A brothel in Hanover, Germany, already has a sex buffet on offer: $111 will buy you an hour of as much sex as you can manage. Berlin's Pussy Club has a literal and figurative smorgasbord available: Just $98 will buy you "six hours of unlimited sex, access to a sauna" and tanning bed and an all-you-can-eat buffet. I saved the worst for last: "At Geizhaus, recent promotions allowed guests to have sex for free on Halloween and Easter if they wore a costume or brought in a decorated egg." At this rate, a brothel might as well pay customers to try out its services.
So, there you have the main principle of sex industry recessionomics: Customers get more bang for their buck, prostitutes work harder for less.
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