Haiti – A Vacation Destination? 5 Steps to Make It Happen

Ask any seasoned global vacationer and you’ll probably get a blank stare or an “are you crazy?” comment when asked whether he/she’d pick Haiti as a vacation destination.  Sure, even the most hardened supporters of Haiti  as a tourist destination, such as Bill and Hillary Clinton (they honeymooned in Haiti), will admit that this country is probably at the bottom of any Caribbean destination.  Only Ciudad Juarez and Guantanamo Bay are perhaps worse off for law-abiding citizens looking for a bargain…

Decades of dictatorships, corruption, natural disasters (hurricanes and earthquakes) and utterly total mismanagement of foreign aid has sunk this once beautiful country to the ‘armpit’ status of all of the Americas.  Believe it or not, the country has potential to become a cheap haven for vacationers from North America and Europe, but it will take something short of a miracle to make this happen.  But, it can be done and this is how:

Stop Foreign Aid

Believe it or not, foreign aid kills local economies, which should be the backbone of any strong economy.  Only after the next step is taken (see below) should foreign aid continue, but only in the form of direct investment and not in the form of tents, food, etc.  In short, foreign aid feeds corruption and feeds corrupt government politicians.  Just look at the examples of Kenya and in Somalia wherein the well intended foreign community helped destroy the local economies.

Strong Government

Failing Haitian Government

In the eyes of the U.N., and most developed nations, a democracy is the preferred method of governing a country.  If done correctly it provides all citizens, regardless of cultural background, education, income level, etc. with a voice in how the country should be governed.  However, Haiti unfortunately is far from having a corrupt free democratic government.  This is one occasion where the country is better off having a strong interim one-party central government.

I emphasize ‘interim’ as it’s only needed for 10 years if done correctly after which Haiti can switch back to a full-fletched democratic nation.  The benefit of having a single party government is that decisions can be made quickly and corruption can be cut drastically.  This would help speed up the rebuilding of this country.  Just look at shining examples such as South Korea and Taiwan.

In order to accomplish this Haiti will need to find politicians that are powerful enough to rule the country with an iron fist, yet do it with the intentions to enrich the country as a whole and not their own pocketbooks.  This would bring peace and stability to a gang and drug infested country and would allow construction to start without the much maligned corruption that we’re so accustomed to in Haiti.

Infrastructure

Once peace and stability has been restored and a 90%+ corrupt free government has taken hold you can start on the second priority, which is the rebuilding of the nation’s infrastructure.  Some may argue that preventing cholera, which has killed more than 1,000 people so far, should be a priority or providing housing to the thousands of homeless people should be a priority, but what this country needs foremost is a modern harbor, upgraded airport and roads/rails to transport the goods across the country.

New harbors and upgraded airports will allow goods to be brought into the country much quicker.  New roads and rail will allow those goods to be transporter quicker and cheaper across the country.  Ask any economist, if you can move goods from point A to point B you will create commerce, which in turn will create jobs, which in turn will create tax revenues, which in turn will create revenues to: build sewer systems (to prevent cholera outbreaks), build schools (to educate the population for modern jobs), build hospitals (to keep the population healthy).

A population that has comfort in feeling safe, is educated and is healthy will provide long-term prosperity for many generations.  If you can build a 4-lane highway from the harbor/airport to Port-Au-Prince and to Cap-Haitian then the economic benefits will be immediate.  Building tent cities and having food rot in port warehouses does nothing for the well-being of Haitians today (see Stop Foreign Aid above).  Building a viable infrastructure does not only help today’s generation, but generations to come.

Tourism

Labadee Resort - Haiti

Once a stable government is put in place and the port/airport and roads/rails have been constructed then it’s time to open up the beaches to resort development.  The country is beautifully situated next to the Dominican Republic and not too far from Cuba.  Investments will come from large companies such as Hilton, Starwood Hotels, etc. to build resorts for the tourists.  Cruise ships will dock in the new modern ports and airlines will once again fly to Haiti thanks to the upgraded airports.  It will make the tourists feel safe and provide them with a unique country/culture experience that if done correctly, will only bring more tourists.

Reinvestment

Once the resorts and infrastructure have been built then it’s easy to understand that tens of thousands of jobs will have been created for Haitians, which in turn will mean that tax revenues will start coming in for the ‘non-corrupt’ Haiti government.  The bulk of this new revenue needs to be reinvested into the country in the form of better schools, hospitals, sewer systems, phone systems, etc.

Once you reach the final stage of this rebuilding effort, only then can you start with democratic elections.  It will be easy for the country’s politicians to see that continuing on the path of growth will create a new middle class that will continue to grow and benefit everybody, rich or poor.

Now if only France (former colonists) and the U.S. can pull this off and hold off on distributing the $5.2 billion in promised donations until a new government is in place, then we wouldn’t have to worry about Haiti the next time a natural disaster strikes as it will be able to stand on its own feet for the most part.  We can then also start seeing some TV commercials from the Haitian tourism bureau during the winter months in the north…

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