President Michel Martelly’s administration wants to build Haiti’s biggest tourism development here, hoping that foreign visitors can help drive an economic revival in the nation of 10 million, where most adults lack any kind of steady work and survive on less than $2 a day.
The government is renovating the fishing village and training tourist police as it tries to line up investors for a country enjoying a period of relative tranquility after years of chaos.
Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe told The Associated Press as he visited Cotes-de-Fer, “We know it’s a huge task and it won’t be easy, but this is one chance that Haiti cannot miss. We’ve been at the bottom of the ladder for too long”.
A master plan for the area promises tax-free investments for 15 years in a development that could eventually cover about 5,680 acres (2,299 hectares), with up to 20,000 hotel rooms and condos. The first phase would cost nearly $48 million, with 1,266 rooms in four hotels and 1,133 tourist residences, an 18-hole golf course, and a beach club by 2017. A small airport would be built nearby.
Officials hope it will become Haiti’s version of Punta Cana, a major resort town carved out of a fishing village in the neighboring Dominican Republic in the 1970s. Grupo PuntaCana, which operates the Dominican resort, has assisted Haiti with developing its plans.
The other tourism push includes development of the southern island of Ile-a-Vache, plans for a resort with approximately 2,500 rooms and its own international airport. Scouring to accommodate supply ships is nearing completion, and the site for a future airport is being marked.
Haiti also has signed a memorandum of understanding with Carnival Corp. to develop a $70 million cruise port on Ile de la Tortue, an island off the north coast long known as a departure point for smugglers.
For now, the vast majority of tourists are cruise ship passengers who never leave Labadee, Royal Caribbean’s fenced-in port and beach attraction in northern Haiti.
Lamothe says the country has turned a corner, with more than $250 million in direct foreign investment projected for this year, up from $4 million in 2001.
Pennsylvania-based Apple Leisure Group is working with the government to bring together hoteliers and airport developers for the south coast resort proposals. Its AMResorts arm operates 32 resorts in 13 beach destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean, including six in Punta Cana.
Haiti draws adventuresome travelers. Haiti’s second largest city, Cap-Haitien, is a cultural capital where French colonial buildings resemble old New Orleans. The picturesque south coast town of Jacmel attracts European and U.S. vacationers.
Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin has lately been flying around the world to woo investors and hospitality companies.
The possibility of a tourism boom is being welcomed by many, especially young people eager for opportunities in Cotes-de-Fer.
