On the other hand, other colleagues like Monique St-Victor of Omni Tours and Pierre Chauvet of Citadelle Agency believe that the interest to the DR remains intact.
According to Pierre Chauvet, traveling to the DR is a must for a few Haitians. It's a very common getaway that reminds me of the ‘80s when many Haitians chose Florida as their favorite
destination. But, things have changed lately. The same phenomenon is now happening in the DR where approximately 7,000 Haitian students reside, thus enticing some families to find a pied-a-terre and even drive to go to the DR during long holiday weekends.
Other Haitians prefer to travel by bus to avoid administrative hassles imposed by discriminating Dominican officials who get angry as soon as they notice vehicles with Haitian plates. At the same time, these lucky travelers escape to the harassment of some Dominican sergeants who extort regularly Haitian visitors along the Haitian-Dominican border.
But, what about Dominican tourism in Haiti. That doesn't even exist! It's been a while since Dominican tourists used to come in large numbers to enjoy themselves while their country was the least visited, said Pierre Chauvet, president of the Haitian Association of Travel Agencies. Does it mean that there is no hope for Haiti in terms of tourism? No, said Marie-France Petoia, Monique St-Victor, and Pierre Chauvet who noticed nevertheless a rebirth of local tourism. There are increasing demands for some regions in the South like Port-Morgan, (Ile-a-Vaches), Jacmel in the Southeast, and the Arcadins' Coast towards the North. The latter being threatened by ongoing pollution of Port-au-Prince bay.
In addition, new hotels' structures have been established on the hillside of Kenscoff and Furcy (Belot, (Parc-la-Visite) located in the East of Port-au-Prince. However, Pierre Chauvet blames the fact that the national touristic map vanished on the North region of Haiti. So, he opts for a real expansion of this area in order to bring back all touristic spots, which are a must to boost up local tourism, although non-competitive today.
Lack of security, inflation, insalubrity, eroded mountains…, there is a lot to be done to put Haiti back on its track though endowed with an exotic culture, an astonishing history, self-contained beach resorts, and picturesque and historical landmarks that wait to be rediscover.
