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9803: Some notes
From: MKarshan@aol.com
The Plaza Hotel which was originally The Holiday Inn Plaza, did
not close but only lost its right to continue to be called a Holiday Inn
hotel. This occurred while they were constructing a new wing and had nothing
to do with "political instability spooking international tourism." In fact,
despite "political instability" every major hotel in Haiti (Villa Creole,
Kinan, El Rancho, Montana and maybe more) have significantly expanded in the
last couple of years and continue to expand, all with new beautiful wings!
Also, I can't resist mentioning that this is this first time I have seen the
1986 ouster of Duvalier referred to as the "bloody ouster." That term is
usually used for the 1991 coup d'etat. Also, I believe that the new Hilton
hotel will be used heavily by those tourists and diaspora who are en route to
the countryside for either tourism or to visit families. By time people
arrive at the Port--au-Prince international airport they are often too late
to make connecting flights to the countryside. Instead of venturing into
Port-au-Prince just for the night (and sometimes in the dark, for example Air
France arrives in the evening) and have to travel all the way back through
traffic in the morning, they can stay right there in the area of the airport
and go a few steps to the domestic airport to make their connection first
thing in the morning. The domestic flights and tourism are expanding
throughout the country so this hotel is right on time! In terms of tourism,
Haiti does receive a lot of businesspeople, delegations, volunteer missions
and conference attenders, not to mention its regular niche tourists who are
interested primarily in its culture. The Olaffson seems to attract the
majority of the niche travelers and has also undergone some refurbishing in
recent years. For further info on the Hilton Hotel go to the National Palace
website and through a word search for "hotel" you'll find both a note to the
press and the details of the contract.
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