Note: I have different figures, instead of 2000 tourist a week from DR
to Northen Haiti, I was told that in reality it is around 300, source:
operators in Cap Haitien.
Yacine
Robert Corbett wrote:
>
> Title: Reviving HAITI'S Paradise.
> Subject(s): TOURIST trade -- Haiti; HISTORIC sites -- Haiti
> Source: Americas, Jul/Aug99, Vol. 51 Issue 4, p48, 6p, 5c, 2bw
> Author(s): Luxner, Larry
>
> With unique resources, this country is poised to compete for
> investment capital and a booming Caribbean tourism market
>
> A growing number of adventure tourists are visiting Haiti these days.
> They are attracted by the country's original art, impressive
> fortresses and other architecture, unspoiled beaches, and vibrant
> religious culture, all of which distinguishes Haiti when it comes to
> Caribbean tourist destinations. Ernest V. Bellande, special advisor to
> the country's Ministry of Tourism in Port-au-Prince, says about two
> thousand visitors a week are now crossing the border by bus from the
> Dominican Republic, which together with Haiti shares the island of
> Hispaniola.
>
> Although the trend is encouraging, Bellande says that's not enough to
> bring back Haiti's tourist industry, which in the 1950s and 1960s was
> one of the strongest in the Caribbean. Today, following years of
> political violence and miserable economic conditions, only 150,000
> tourists a year come to Haiti, including Haitians on family trips.
> That compares to the millions of North Americans and Europeans
> visiting Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the Bahamas,
> and other Caribbean islands.
>
> Curiously, as late as 1981, Haiti and the Dominican Republic each had
> around two thousand hotel rooms. Today, the Dominican Republic boasts
> over forty thousand rooms, while Haiti's stock has shriveled to only
> one thousand rooms.
>
> "Tourists used to visit Haiti, and go to the D.R. as a side trip. Now
> it's the reverse," complains Pierre Chauvet Fils, president of Agency
> Citadel]e, one of Haiti's biggest travel agencies. "The political
> situation of 1986 onward [the year Jean-Claude Duvalier, known as
> "Baby Doc," was overthrown] created a bad image. We had very few North
> Americans visiting because of the very bad press. The country suffered
> a lot because of one-sided reporting. So now we need a little positive
> news."
>
> Nevertheless, the tourism industry is hopeful that Haiti's latest
> strategic plan for the development of Cap-Haitien will make the
> country more attractive to visitors. The project, launched with
> $110,000 from the Organization of American States (OAS), seeks
> additional funding from private comparties and foundations.
>
> Haiti's second city, Cap-Haitien had only thirty thousand inhabitants
> in 1971. Today it counts over 300,000 and is still growing. A wealthy
> capital curing colonial times, the city was burned to the ground three
> times--in 1734, 1798, and 1802-and was destroyed again during an 1842
> earthquake. Cap-Haitien today suffers the same social and physical
> infrastructure problems as the rest of Haiti, though its historic
> center is distinguished by some well-preserved, Spanish-influenced
> mansions, and it is only twenty minutes by car from some rather
> spectacular beaches, and about half an hour's drive from Sans Souci
> and the Citadelle.
>
> According to the Ministry of Tourism's rather enthusiastic
> projections, Haiti could have five thousand hotel rooms by 2004, and
> as many as twenty thousand over the long term--generating thirty
> thousand direct jobs and sixty thousand indirect jobs in construction,
> services, and transportation.
>
> Haitian-born Claude Larreur, acting director of the tourism unit at
> the OAS, insists that those numbers are not pie in the sky. "This
> projection is based on the fact that our beaches and other tourism
> resources are as good as those of the Dominican Republic, so there's
> no reason we couldn't get to those levels," says Larreur. "The
> resources are there to make Haiti a first-class tourist destination.
> But right now, there are other priorities in Haiti. The resources the
> government can earmark for tourism are very limited. This is why we
> need external funding."
>
> Despite the difficulties, tourists have been coming to Haiti for
> years. Undoubtedly, one of the country's strongest attractions is its
> highly original, vividly colorful paintings.
>
> In 1935 U.S. art critic Selden Rodman visited Cap-Haitien and wrote a
> play, The Revolution, about Haitian heroes Henri Christophe,
> Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and Toussaint L'Ouverture. He later became
> co-director of the Centre d'Art with American artist Dewitt Peters. In
> 1948 he opened a Haitian art center in New York to publicize its
> merits and over the years has written several books on the subject. In
> the late 1960s he directed the painting of the famous murals in the
> Cathedral Sainte Trinite by Haitian artists.
>
> Earlier this year, Rodman celebrated his ninetieth birthday at the
> Hotel Oloffson in downtown Port-au-Prince. This grand old mansion,
> located off the southern end of Rue Capois--a haft-mile from the
> Champs de Mars park--is itself a tourist attraction of sorts, with its
> imposing gingerbread construction and native art for sale in the
> lobby. It was built in the 1890s by the Sam family and is considered
> one of Haiti's most beautiful examples of Victorian architecture. In
> the 1950s the Oloffson was a hideaway for celebrities like Noel Coward
> and Lillian Hellman; author Graham Greene was a guest there, and his
> novel The Comedians is set in a hotel modeled after the Oloffson.
>
> Visitors are also drawn to the capital's vibrant Iron Market, named
> for its buildings of painted wrought iron, where one may find crafts
> and paintings among the fruits and vegetables in a two-block-long
> bazaar. Then there are the colorful minivans, known as "tap-taps,"
> which, at only fifteen cents a ride, are probably the cheapest and
> most interesting form of transportation anywhere in the Caribbean. But
> they're not for the faint-hearted and are usually cramped and
> suffocating unless one happens to be lucky and get a seat up front,
> next to the driver.
>
> When it comes to art, it is difficult to beat Haiti for variety and
> value. One good place to start is the Musee d'Art Haitien, which is
> located at the intersection of rues Capois and Legitime and has
> Haiti's finest native art collection. About five blocks away is
> Rodman's Centre d'Art; other recommended galleries are Nader (two
> locations, one downtown and the other in the Croix Desprez
> neighborhood); Galerie Issa, just down the block from the Oloffson,
> and the Damballa Art Gallery, on Magasin de l'Etat.
>
> Other areas of the country that merit promotion include Fort Liberty,
> in northeastern Haiti, not far from the Dominican border and quite
> accessible to the Citadelle and nearby beaches. The government owen
> several thousands of acres there and has a tentative plan to build ten
> thousand hotel rooms in the Fort Liberte area.
>
> Cote d'Arcadin, along the Gulf of Gonaives, just north of
> Port-au-Prince, already boasts some luxurious resorts, including the
> Moulin Sur Mer plantation and Club Med. Aquin Saint-Louis du Sud,
> located near Les Cayes in extreme western Haiti, could be the site for
> two thousand to three thousand hotel rooms overlooking the sea. Also
> nearby is the Grotto of Saint-Gregoire, an important vodoun holy site.
>
> Jacmel, known as Haiti's handicrafts capital, is particularly popular
> for its skilled papier-mache artisans and the French Victorian-style
> architecture of its houses, with their steep roofs and gables,
> turrets, high ceilings, balconies, and rich fretwork embellishment.
>
> If the conditions were right, tourists could also be lured to La
> Tortue, a twenty-five-mile-long island off Haiti's northern coast,
> whose lonely white-sand beaches were recently voted among the ten best
> in the Caribbean by Caribbean Travel & Life magazine.
>
> According to Horace Hord, director of marketing for the
> Atlantic-Caribbean at American Airlines in Miami, Haiti "must be
> prepared to compete aggressively for the investment capital needed to
> provide a better product, but at the same time develop and maintain a
> unique product, and pursue and attract a unique consumer." The
> country, he concedes, "is not ready for tourists and won't be for a
> long time, but Haiti is ready for visitors, both from the [black]
> diaspora and sophisticated travelers, who are not seeking today's
> Caribbean vacation experience."
>
> Indeed, there is much to occupy such a visitor in Haiti, ranging from
> mountain climbing to sunbathing to touring the country's number-one
> tourist attraction: La Citadelle. This giant fortification, ordered by
> Haiti's self-proclaimed King Henri Christophe in 1813, boasts
> twenty-foot-thick walls and sits on top of a mountain near Cap-Haitien
> on the country's northern coast. It overlooks the ruins of Sans
> Souci--an ornate palace constructed by Christophe, abandoned after the
> king's death and nearly destroyed by an earthquake in 1842. Both the
> Citadelle and Sans Souci are UNESCO World Heritage sites. In 1984
> Haiti's Institut de Sauvegarde du Patrimoine National (ISPAN) began
> restoring the complex at a cost of $12 million. The ambitious
> undertaking was completed in 1995.
>
> "Originally, the project was the National Historic Park," says
> Bellande. "But then something had to be done because, in order to go
> from the port to the Citadelle and back, you have to pass through the
> city of Cap-Haitien, and it looked so lousy."
>
> To rectify that, the Action Coalition--a Washington-based design
> firm--came up with a comprehensive plan earlier this year to beautify
> the port at Labadie, a fencedoff sandy peninsula just west of
> Cap-Haitien that is used by the Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruise
> Lines as a private beach for its visiting cruise ships.
>
> "Our challenge is to assure that in every step of the visit--from the
> first step on the dock to the last moment in the Citadelle--the
> experience is consistent, authentic, thoughtful, and fun," says T.
> Allan Comp, director of the Action Coalition. "This is not an
> insurmountable challenge for the people of Cap-Haitien or the
> government of Haiti." Bellande says Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines has
> pledged to spend $4 million to upgrade Labadie to accommodate its
> Eagle-class ships, which weigh 100,000 tons each and can carry
> thirty-six-hundred passengers and fifteen-hundred crew members.
>
> "This project was solely dependent on them bringing in that ship once
> a week," he says. "They'd also be willing to accommodate three hundred
> to five hundred passengers to see Cap-Haitien. What we have in mind is
> to shuttle passengers by tenders [small boats] from Labadie to
> Cap-Haitien. Once we fill the conditions set by Royal Caribbean, we
> can use the facilities to accommodate any cruise line. We've spoken to
> practically the whole FCAA [Florida Caribbean Cruise Association].
>
> In 1998, according to government figures, 246,221 cruise-ship
> passengers stopped in Labadie--up 22 percent over the 238,429 visitors
> in 1997 but still lower than the 250,373 passengers who visited the
> port the year before.
>
> "Haiti," emphasizes Suzanne Seitz, a consultant for the Ministry of
> Tourism, "is for the adventure tourist. However, the master plan is
> aimed at making it a little easier for anyone to get around. It just
> needs more infrastructure in place."
>
> Yet Dominique F. Carvonis, general manger of the Moulin Sur Met beach
> resort and president of the Hotel and Tourism Association of Haiti,
> observes that political bickering and indifference have cost Haiti
> years worth of tourism development.
>
> "The opportunities through tourism are tremendous, and you don't need
> that much investment. Little by little, you will have investors
> coming. That's what we're fighting for."
>
> PHOTO (COLOR): Life remains tranquil around Jacmel, a charming
> colonial town nestled along a pristine bay and unspoiled beaches
>
> PHOTOS (COLOR): Although Haiti's northwestern coast, opposite, is
> still underdeveloped, in the east, near Cap-Haitien, local fishing
> boats often meet oceanliners, above left. On land the preferred
> transportation is the colorful tap-tap, left
>
> PHOTOS (COLOR): The Iron Market in downtown Port-au-Prince, above,
> overflows with eclectic merchandise from kitchen utensils to fine art.
> A vendor shows his work along the road to Kenscoff, a popular market
> town near the capital, left
>
> PHOTO (COLOR): Spruced-up tourist attractions in Cap-Haitien, from the
> cruise-ship port ...
>
> Spruced-up tourist attractions in Cap-Haitien, from the cruise-ship
> port of Labadie, top left, to the impressive Citadelle, will boost the
> economy.
>
> PHOTO (COLOR): Citadelle, opposite
>
> PHOTO (COLOR): Business is thriving for Cap-Haitien
>
> Business is thriving for Cap-Haitien
>
> PHOTO (COLOR): Thierry Gardere, managing director of Rhum Barbancourt,
> left, one of Haiti's best known products, with annual sales of over $6
> million
>
> ~~~~~~~~
>
> By Larry Luxner
>
> Larry Luther is the editor of the South American Report and a regular
> contributor to Americas.
> _________________
>
-- ******************************************************************** Yacine Khelladi <yacine@aacr.net> Research Coordinator Kiskeya Alternative Destination Project http://kiskeya-alternative.org tel: 1-809-537 89 77 (voicemail) Fax: 1-809-221 42 19
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Feb 28 2000 - 15:35:31 AST