Juan David Latorre
Luz Kurta Cassandra François, Haiti’s Minister of Tourism, spoke to The Diplomat in Spain during her visit to Madrid on the occasion of the FITUR2024 Tourism Fair.
Regarding what Haiti has to offer international tourism, the Haitian minister said that “Haiti is a unique country, The Soul of Caribe. With not only beaches and sun, but also nature, culture, our heritage, history, gastronomy and way of life. For all these reasons, visiting Haiti is a unique experience for tourists, which is different from tourism in other Caribbean countries.
In the northern part of Haiti, in Cap-Haïtien, we receive many tourists,” the minister continued, “both from the Caribbean and from cruise ships that bring visitors from all over the world. In the future, the tourism structure will be decentralised to the regions from the capital, Port-au-Prince, in terms of invoicing and public management, with the aim of making investment in the regions more attractive in order to attract more tourism and industry”.
“Like all countries,” Luz Kurta Cassandra François stressed, “we have security problems in the capital and also political instability, but we have to separate this from the security that exists in other regions of Haiti, such as the north and the south. At the moment, a lot of tourists come to these areas and they go on excursions and resort visits without any problems. We need to further develop the tourism infrastructure to receive more tourists. The most used air combination to come to Haiti is via Miami or with a stopover in Santo Domingo. We want to further develop tourism in the Haitian regions in order to grow tourism and receive more visitors”.
Finally, the Haitian Minister of Tourism pointed out that “the tourism potential of Haiti today is located in the north, where we have the country’s historical and cultural treasure. This other facet of Haiti will allow tourists to share the country’s history. Finally, after 10 years, Fitur sees Haiti again and this participation is a sign of Haiti’s desire to embark with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) after COVID, collaborating for the first time with this institution in the competitiveness committee”.
