Travel and Transportation

The future of Haiti relies among Haitians and once the Haitian government is able to provide a stable environment, Haitian businesses will take off for good. An example of that is with the young Haitian investor Josué Bazile who sees an opportunity in the city of Pestel where transportation has been a problem for the residents for a long time. He has decided to bring a solution to the problem.

Grand Anse Pestel citizens lack affordable and regular transit service to Les Cayes and Jeremie. Pestel native Josue Bazile began Agrotrans, a daily service, providing transit in a Toyota all-terrain vehicle.

Bazile was not funded by the government, and says people should not expect government help; instead they should take the initiative themselves to find workable solutions.

The transit vehicle will do double duty as an ambulance when emergencies arise, since Pestel has no such emergency service.

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Here is a picture of the new Marriott International as Digicel new hotel

The latest of the brand new hotels that have been added to the list of Haiti's new tourism vectors is the Port-au-Prince Marriott, an undertaking that has taken four years to complete. Its opening was so important as to draw the attention of the Haitian Head of State, President Michel Martelly, who was on hand for the inauguration. Today, the hotel is up and running, bringing in tourist dollars to the tune of from US $149 to US $179 per night.

For a country that has been challenged recently with a political standoff that has led to multiple demonstration, an oil strike, and various other riots against the administration, the opening of the hotel was a bright spark for the promise it brings to the communities of Port-au-Prince and the larger Haitian Diaspora. Digicel Group head Denis O'Brien mentioned on the occasion that Haiti was not the only country struggling with unrest. He explained that the country's problems weren't enough to deter visitors and investors, he himself being an overseas investor.

Also present at the event was former President of the United States Bill Clinton. In his address to them, President Clinton highlighted the chance the hotel's 200 workers have to be the face of Haitian tourism every day, showing visitors the warmth, hospitality, and professionalism the country has to offer. Nearly all of the workers are from the Haitian workforce, many of them from needy backgrounds. Digicel Foundation, Marriott Hotel group and the Bill Clinton Foundation were the partners in the project.

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Here is a picture of the new Marriott in Haiti

The excitement is in the potential the hotel possesses for positively propelling the country's economy skyward. The partners, the Digicel Group, the Clinton Foundation, and the Marriott Hotel chain, have combined the lure of a newly rejuvenated industry with a glamorous hotel design, and have coupled this with a conscientious business model that should put a significant amount of the profits to be realized into the accounts of not just the hotel's management, but local businesses and the mainly Haitian workforce tasked with the day to day operations of the hotel.

Taking from the disadvantaged in the country, the hotel has employed nearly 200 Haitian, some of whom are bilingual members of the diaspora. The opening gives hope to the country that has been experiencing instability, with various riots and unrest, for weeks now.

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A new Marriott in the heart of Port-au-Prince. Here is an important milestone in Haiti, the opening of the Marriott Port-au-Prince.

With the help of the Clinton Foundation worked closely with Marriott and Digicel Group, this new hotel will likely attract more foreign direct investment to Haiti

Like a shiny, white beacon to match the high expectations being placed on its shoulders, the 11-story Marriott Hotel in Port-au-Prince, newly opened for business as of the 25th of February, stands out for its newness, simplistic outer design and its ability to reflect the sunlight. While Haiti on a whole and its tourism sector in particular have been benefitting from a tremendous influx of support from local investments and help from around the world, leading to the erection of many new hotels, the implementation of a hibiscus rating system, and a general overhaul of many popular tourist sites with the addition of new ones, it is this hotel which garnered much attention, compelling the presence of Haiti's President Michel Martelly, and former U.S. President Bill Clinton to its grand opening.

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InterCaribbean Airways New Jamaica-Haiti Flights

New InterCaribbean Routes to Increase Travel to Haiti

Regional airline, InterCaribbean Airways (ICA), will inaugurate new routes to serve the region. Already new non-stop service between Kingston and Port-au-Prince, and Port-au-Prince to Santo Domingo has begun.

ICA CEO Trevor Sadler says, ". . . these new routes . . . give . . . choices and more connectivity across the Caribbean . . . to the vacation visitor" The new routes will also make possible growth for Haiti's economy as business travel increases.

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Here is a picture of Haiti International Airport during the government of Dumarsais estime.

The History Of Toussaint Louverture International Airport. Toussaint L'Ouverture is the busiest Haitian international airport located in Tabarre, near Port-au-Prince. In the beginning, during the 1940s, it had been both a military and civil airport. Later, during 1950s and 1960s, it served as a U.S. military base in Haiti. In 1965, with the grant money collected from the "People of Haiti" (lottery, taxes, etc.,) and the U.S. government, the airport was developed in the name of then President François Duvalier. In 1986, it was renamed as Port-au-Prince International Airport. The name was changed again in 2003 by President Jean Bertrand Aristide in the honor of the Haitian revolutionary leader of Toussaint Louverture. The airport was severely damaged in the 2010 earthquake. President Martelly has opened the newly repaired arrival terminal on 25 November 2012. The main building serves as the International terminal. It houses two-story concrete and glass structure, few retail stores. Immigration and check-in facilities are located on the ground floor. The "Guy Malary Terminal" is used for domestic flights. There are specified areas for general aviation and cargo flight. The airport has three jet bridges, mobile stairs, and the ramp can handle 12 planes. There is a renewal program that to be completed by 2015.

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Here is a picture of the Central Railway in Port-au-Prince at Rue du Quai during the government of Cincinnatus Leconte

Jean-Jacques Dessalines Michel Cincinnatus Leconte (born September 29, 1854) was the Haitian President between (August 1911 until his death on 8 August 1912). He was the son of Cinna Leconte and Florelia Raphael and the great grandson of the Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the founding father of Haiti and the autocratic first ruler of an independent Haiti under the 1801 constitution. Cincinnatus Leconte was a lawyer by profession who served as the Minister of the Interior to the President Pierre Nord Alexis. In 1908, when a revolt deposed Alexis, he went into exile in Jamaica and C. Antoine Simon became the President. He came back from exile in 1911 and gathered a rebellion force that ousted President Simon and on August 7, 1911, Leconte unanimously became the President for a seven year term with a set salary of $24,000 a year. His presidency is often considered as one of the efficient and cleanest government that Haiti ever had. He took many positive steps and numerous reforms. He increased teachers' pay, paved the streets, installed telephone lines, reduced the size of the army, etc., and they are only a few to name. He introduced a controversial discriminatory policy targeting "Syrian" population (actually most of them were Lebanese Christians) to protect Haitians from disloyal competition of the Easterners with uncertain nationality.

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Here is a list of Hotels classified by the Minister of Tourism in Haiti for 2014.

The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Industries (MTCI) has decided to publish the complete results of the classification of hotels in Haiti in order to inform the traveling public of the quality of the services to expect before booking

As of November 1, the Ministry of Tourism has delivered scutcheons to classified hotels, including the 5 which have earned 5-hibiscus status. These include Haiti El Rancho, Best Western Premier, The Inn at Villa Bambou, Karibe Convention Center, and Hotel Royal Oasis (a total of 441 rooms).

The currently classified establishments make up a 51% majority of all hotel rooms in the country. As well as the hotel criteria, hotels must be in good standing with the DGI to be eligible for classification. So far, only 177 hotels out of 525 in the country meet the Ministry of Tourism standards for classification on the hibiscus scale; however, since the program began over a year and a half ago, more than 4,000 rooms in 456 establishments have been classified under it.

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Here is the Hotels classified in Haiti for 2014. The Ministry of Tourism (MDT) launched its classification program of tourist establishments to improve the quality of services provided by the hotel facilities.

Tourism has become big business in Haiti on the heels of the government's "Open for Business" campaign. It was therefore no surprise the attention paid to the country's hotel industry, including the reclassification exercise undertaken throughout 2014, making it impossible for the industry to ever be the same again. Putting a decidedly piquant, Haitian feel on the world-wide five-star standard, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Industries (MTCI) has reclassified the country's hotels labelling them on a hibiscus scale that mirrors the more traditional star scale.

The project started in 2013 with the city of Les Cayes having its tourist destinations classified under the program. The government deployed 21 trained officers to inspect and classify these hotels and establishments from 1 hibiscus (same as 1 star, the minimum of quality) to 5 hibiscus (same as 5 star, the maximum of quality).

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On August 8, 2014, I had a chance to visit Airline Ticketing Center in Little Haiti to evaluate how they have been delivering services to their consumers. It is located in a great location, at the corner of 82nd Street and 2nd Avenue, NE. This is considered a prime location for business in the Little Haiti area as many Haitians see first thing as they travel in the busy NE 2nd Avenue. You just can't miss it.

The appearance was very impressive at Airline Ticketing Center in Little Haiti. You enter a room clean and well organized. There are plenty of space to seat while waiting for the next available agent to serve you. Don't worry about it, you will not have to wait that long anyway. This site is really not crowded. While I was there, it did not take me even thirty seconds for someone to ask me how she could help me.

Although I received prompt and quick services at Airline Ticketing Center in Little Haiti, the reception was far from being warmth. Like many other Haitian businesses, Airline Ticketing Center in Little Haiti suffers from lack of customer service skills. It was not long before I realized that the person who was serving me was not willing to go out of her way to help. Instead, she was ready to refer me to the next staff member just for a simple question. In addition, they were not able to give me a business card.

This is not surprising and for a Haitian business in little Haiti, that is considered to be normal. The Haitian customer usually does not ask for much and sometime forget that they are the one keeping these people in business.

Airline Ticketing Center in Little Haiti
8200 NE 2nd Avenue
Miami, FL 33138
(305) 751-1889

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