caribbean tourism

Here is a picture of Royal Caribbean ship in Labadee, Haiti.

'Labadee' is a tourist oriented resort on the northern coast of Haiti leased to Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. until 2050. It is located some six miles from Cape Haitian. The place is very nice, as are its beaches. They are pleasant, relaxing with lots of beach chairs. Since 1986, when RC Cruise made its deal with Baby Doc Duvalier in 1986, Royal Caribbean Cruises has been contributing a larger portion of their revenue to Haiti. Royal Caribbean does not pay any rent of any kind for the 260 acres of waterfront property, but its passengers pay a $12 head tax (it was $10 till February 2015). This private beach resort features pristine beaches, coral reefs and lagoon-like bays surrounded by forested mountains. The location is named after its first French settler marquis de La Badie, who came here in the 17th century. A typical day in Labadee may include snorkeling, filling up your plate at the buffet BBQ, zipping across the water on the 2,600 ft long Dragon's Breath Flight Line or snoozing in a beach chair on a private beach of 25 people.

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Our beloved Haiti has been nominated for the 10 Best Readers' Choice Travel Awards 2015

Each week USA Today asks their readers to help them picking 10 Best Travel Destinations based on different categories ranging from food, lodging, things to do, etc., by casting one vote in each category each week. Their panel of travel experts selects the top 20 nominees, and readers help them to make the final selection. Some examples of their travel destination categories are: Best Caribbean Destination for Adventure, Best Caribbean Destination for Food, Best Caribbean Destination for Nightlife, Best U.S. Budget Destination. Haiti with its dramatic countryside of mountain, caves, waterfall, sea beaches, and heritage sites likes of the Citadelle Laferriere fortress had ranked top at No 1 during the third week of October 2015. However, it slipped to No: 2 of 20 next week, in the Best Caribbean Destination for Adventure category.

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Did you know there is a plan in the making to build a cable car line linking Labadie with Citadelle Laferriere? This is part of a tourism improvement plan. Tourists arriving at Labadee via Royal Caribbean cruise will now be able to get to the historic site of Citadelle Laferriere in very safe condition.

This picture seeing here is not an actual picture of the cable car line project between Labadie and Citadelle Laferriere. It is just an idea of what it will look like after completion.

China never withdrew it supports on Haiti since its participation in the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti following the devastating 2010 earthquake. Although, they left the UN mission in November 2012, but have maintained their presence with financial cooperation and assistance in important Haitian development works. Recently, on September 25, 2015, a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Haitian government and China National Automation Control System Corp (CACS) which would help to construct new buildings for the finance ministry, the tax office and the customs bureau. Furthermore, the Chinese companies will help to improve and expand important arterial roads around the capital city and in the border areas. A cable car will be constructed to link the municipality of Labadie to the archaeological site of Citadelle Laferriere, and the international airport, Toussaint Louverture will be renovated within a few years. These are genuine gesture from China to put Haiti on its path to development. The Citadelle Laferrière or, Citadelle Henry Christophe is a large mountaintop fortress in northern Haiti built between 1805 and 1820 with 365 cannons of varying size, approximately 17 miles (27 km) south of the city of Cap-Haïtien and five miles (8 km) uphill from the town of Milot.

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Here is something to think about. While Haitians have been fighting among themselves and create unfavorable conditions in Haiti for the tourist industry, other Caribbean nations have been doing very well in developing infrastructures and investing in campaigns to bring these tourists who arrive in the Caribbean to their specific countries. Take a look at this figures to see the number of tourists who visited the Caribbean in recent Months and their destination. By the way Haiti is not even included in that list because the number of Caribbean tourists who visited Haiti was insignificant.

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