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After years off the tourism map Haiti is back, offering a blend of the Caribbean and Africa – and operators are signing up to programme what feels like a ‘new destination’, says Debbie Ward
T
he woman coming towards me is wearing an elaborate green-and- white turban, with bits protruding
at angles. Its strangeness has me transfi xed and as we pass each other in the road I realise why – her headdress is a carefully arranged bunch of spring onions. Haiti is the Caribbean, and yet it’s not. It may
have white-sand beaches and warm seas but the population’s African roots predominate. Items as heavy as portable stoves are carried on heads and there’s a strong market economy with anything from pot plants to football fl ags to furniture sold on street corners. The road to the ruined cathedral in Port-au- Prince took the brunt of the 2010 earthquake:
once lined with offi ce buildings, it’s now a hub for electronics stalls. This self-help attitude makes Haiti an inspiring place to be. Tourists, too, will fi nd plenty to buy, like voodoo (spelt vodou in Haiti)-inspired art in the capital’s Iron Market or heritage town Jacmel and decorative metalwork fashioned from oil drums in the village of Croix-de-Bouquets. Haiti is on the way back, after an absence so long that few will remember its heyday as a beach destination in the 1970s and early 1980s. The country has endured years of political strife and that earthquake. With conditions improved, however, its ministry of tourism has opened a European offi ce in London with Haitian-born Jean-Marc Flambert, (previously of St Lucia
Tourist Board) as PR and marketing consultant. Since Flambert started putting Haiti on
a new track, the number of UK operators featuring it has rapidly risen from just two to seven. Flambert said he was confi dent of hitting his target of 10 by the close of 2014. International brands like Occidental and Best
Western Premier have also opened in the capital. Haiti is primarily a touring destination. Key
stops include the vibrant capital Port-Au-Prince, the enormous Citadelle Henry, or Laferrière – built after the country pulled off the world’s most successful slave revolution – the arty heritage town, Jacmel ,and colourful nearby waterfall, Bassin Bleu. Culturally, the country has a unique African/Latin feel with vodou-
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