29050: Labrom re 29019 Tourism (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

> From Jacqui Labrom

Well speaking as a tourism professional, I would refute the idea about the 
'problem' of infrastructure' as being a turnoff for tourists coming to Haiti.

The tourists don't usually live like the people here. They stay in Hotels which 
all have 3 generators each or more, in case Ed'H doesn't work. They have 
telephones and now Internet in all the main hotels and even some of the beach 
ones. They have treated water plants in the main hotels and there is plenty of 
treated water companies for the hotels to buy water when they need it. No-one 
would dream of serving a 'blanc' non treated water.

OK, I know you're all screaming - but what about the roads? Well my viewpoint 
is that the tourists know that this is a 3rd world country and they are not 
surprised to find bad roads. And I can honesly say with all the tourists I've 
had here, I've never had ONE who complained about the roads and said they would 
not come back because of them!

The one major problem for me is the garbage on the streets - I've been known to 
direct my tourists' attention to the other side of the street when we've been 
passing a pile of stinking garbage!! I no longer go straight down from the 
Stadium, crossing over Grande Rue to Bicentennaire, when I'm taking someone to 
Jacmel because of the terrible garbage in the canal on the left hand side. I 
prefer to take them through Mechanics' Alley. We do need to do something about 
that mega quickly before the tourists start coming back. No excuses - plenty of 
human resources to clear it up.

However I do agree with you about the perception and strong actuality of 
insecurity of visitors. Having said that, even in the 'good old days' when 
there were no kidnappings,  the State Dept. and the British Foreign Office were 
always saying 'Don't go'. Yet my tourists who came anyway couldn't understand 
it, as they felt that Haiti was much more secure than so many other countries. 
I had one tour operator who came to visit who said, 'when the Haitians see 
visitors with rucksacks on their backs, do they steal them'!! I was floored by 
such a question and said Definitely not. Another one said to me while we were 
at the airport, 'oh if I was in Peru now I would have to have my suitcase 
wedged between my feet otherwise someone would steal it'.  Well people here 
certainly don't do things like that, so Haiti ain't half bad!!

Jacqui Labrom

Voyages Lumière SA
Journeys for the enlightened traveler
email: voyageslumiere@haitelonline.com
Tel. Office/home: (509) 249-6177
Cellphone: (509) 557-0753