During the last summit "V Cumbre Prensa y Turismo" organized by the "Asociación Dominicana de Prensa Turística" which was held in Puerto Plata, Stéphanie Balmir Villedrouin, the Minister of Tourism and Creative Industries (MTIC), who strove to show another image of Haiti by highlighting its attractions and its potential, announced that from next July, a tourism promotion office will open in the Dominican Republic in the framework of the agreements with the government of President Danilo Medina.

She explained that this office will serve the Dominicans, who want to learn more about the tourist offers in Haiti and the cultural and artistic exchanges. Moreover, she considered that the apprehension that Haiti was a dangerous place for visitors, was due to a lack of information "The perception of the Dominicans is due to lack of information," noting that Haiti was not among the countries experiencing problems of insecurity in the Caribbean.

However, 2 recent travel warning on security in Haiti (Canada and France), do not come to contribute to the efforts of our Minister of Tourism.

Travel Warning Canada : (updated June 9, 2014) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-11426-haiti-notice-bad-news-for-haiti.html

"[...] There has recently been an increase in armed robberies targeting travellers, particularly foreigners of Haitian origin, arriving on international flights at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince. In most cases, the victims’ vehicles are followed by criminals on motorcycles. To minimize the risk of violence, you should have your local contacts arrange your pick up from the airport, carry only small amounts of cash and not resist if you are threatened by robbers [...]"

Travel Warning France :

For its part, France made an update on June 11, which repeats almost and curiously the same words that Canada "Given the increase of armed attacks, sometimes fatal, between the airport and place of accommodation, primarily aimed travelers coming to visit their family, it is recalled that it is imperative to organize his reception by relatives or people you trust, and to limit at minimum the transport of amounts of cash or valuables. In case of aggression, do not offering any resistance."

It is true that these warnings (which exists in varying degrees in all countries) are negative, we must keep in mind that safety notices in neighboring Republic are much more serious, what does not prevent our neighbors to receive more than 4 million tourists increasing every year.

In addition, on the health plan, France has issued a travel warning about the epidemic of Chikungunya "According to the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population, the chikungunya virus is present in all of Haiti and rapid spread (over 15,000 people infected as of May 30, 2014 - partial data)."

However, one can wonder about the different treatment accorded to Haiti where a number [15,000] is indicated, which has a subjective and negative effect on visitors, while in the Dominican Republic where chikungunya cases are much larger, France is satisfied with a laconic messages "The Dominican authorities have confirmed the spread in the Dominican Republic of the chikungunya epidemic, which emerged in the Caribbean in December 2013."

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-11418-haiti-tourism-strategic-discussions-on-the-binational-tourism.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-11379-haiti-tourism-the-punta-cana-group-will-invest-$200m-in-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-10401-haiti-tourism-air-canada-will-increase-its-flights-to-haiti.html

SL/ HaitiLibre