9794: Re: [Fwd: FYI: Haiti signs $40 mln deal to build Hilton hotel]:

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: "David E. Lewis" <DavidLewis@manchestertrade.com>

Haiti signs $40 mln deal to build Hilton hotel
By Trenton Daniel

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Nov 28 (Reuters) - In an attempt to jump-start its
tourism industry, the Haitian government signed a $40 million contract
with an
investor group to build a Hilton-operated hotel in the capital of the
turbulent
Caribbean nation.

Haiti's tourism and finance ministers and representatives of Caribbean
Hotel
Ventures and the Comme Il Faut Tobacco Company, signed an agreement on
Tuesday, extending tax breaks and other economic incentives. The investor
group said the 10-year contract, which is open for renewal, would enable
their
companies to build the hotel.

Caribbean Hotel Ventures will own the hotel, which would be managed by
Hilton
Hotels Corp. (NYSE:HLT - news), the executives said.

``We have a contract with the Hilton to run the hotel, and in it will be
in their hotel
chain,'' Jan Van Doorn, president of Caribbean Hotel Ventures, told
Reuters.

The ``Hilton d'Haiti'' will be the only hotel in Haiti operated by an
international
hotel group, he said.

The landmark hotel will be built next to Port-au-Prince International
Airport in two
phases, Van Doorn said. The first phase, the construction of 190 rooms,
would
begin as soon as the Haitian Parliament ratifies the
incentive agreement, and the second phase about two years later, would add

another 100 rooms.

The hotel will have a swimming pool, tennis courts, a casino, a 500-person

ballroom and a bank, the investors said.Although Haiti's hoteliers enjoyed
a
thriving tourism industry in the 1950s, today they still feel the
aftershock of an
AIDS scare in the early 1980s and the bloody ouster of dictator
Jean-Claude
``Baby Doc'' Duvalier in 1986.

Political instability has spooked international tourists and taken a toll
on
foreign-managed hotels. Club Med, which opened in 1975, closed in 1986,
the
year Duvalier left Haiti. It reopened in 1995 and closed again in 1999,
according
to the Tourism Ministry. The Holiday Inn used to manage a hotel in
Port-au-Prince but ended its affiliation a few years ago.

Business leaders applauded the Hilton deal but said it could prove a tough
sell.

``They will have a very hard product to sell, but being Haitian, I'm
optimistic that
things will have to change and that the Hilton will be the very first to
reap the
benefits of tourism if that happens,'' said factory owner Georges Sassine.



Bob Corbett wrote:

> >From corbetre@webster.edu Sat Nov 25 19:02:24 2000
> Date: Sat, 25 Nov 2000 19:01:13 -0600 (CST)
> From: Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>
> To: Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>
> Subject: Attachments and how to get rid of them
>
> The post you sent in comes with at least one attachment.  I don't post
> any items to the list which has any attachment.  It is too easy to
> pass on viruses which the sender (you) has no idea is even there.
>
> The attachment may NOT be in the message.  Some browsers have an
> automatic feature which uses attachments to attach your e-mail
> address, or other such things.  This feature may be disabled
> and many list members have done this.  I have no idea in the
> world how one does this.  You'd need a computer savvy person to
> help.
>
> However, more often than not it is not the browser, but the fact that
> the message has been copied rather than typed.
>
> In order for me to post the note to the list I will need it in
> a form that doesn't come with attachments.
>
> ================
>
> Guy Antoine adds:
>
> Bob, I think that the situation depends on the mail client
> one uses. For my part, I use Outlook Express which comes
> bundled with MS Internet Explorer and the several latest
> versions of Windows.I suspect that many others use it too,
> since it is free and an integral part of the most used internet
> browser in the world.
>
> When composing a letter in Outllok Express, one has the
> option of changing the "default format" between two options:
> one is "Rich text (HTML)", the other is "Plain text".  Right
> out of the box, so to speak, the default for all new mail is
> "Rich text". This is so, this allows the sender to include
> much enriched visual information, particularly varied fonts
> and backgrounds.  The receiver of such an e-mail falls
> into two types:
>
> 1) If the receiver uses an e-mail client such as Outlook,
> Outlook Express, or similar programs that are Rich Text
> oriented, then the reader sees the e-mail just as intended
> in his mail space, without any attachment whatsoever.
> In fact, you should remember that the sender is not aware
> of sending any attachment (though he could specifically
> include some attachments if he wanted to) since Rich Text
> is the program default.
>
> 2) If the receiver uses an e-mail client (like yours!) which
> is not Rich Text or HTML friendly, then the message
> received becomes an attachment though it was not sent
> nor ever inteded to be sent as an attachement.
>
> The solution: the sender has to make sure, when he sends
> any mail to the Corbett list, to check the FORMAT option
> on his e-mail client and change it from Rich Text to Plain
> Text.  Sometimes, as you noticed, I do forget.
>
> [ A more drastic option is to change the default format to
> Plain Text for all outgoing mail, but that requires sacrificing
> a feature that provides fun and utility to a lot of people.
> Finally, it's possible to instruct Outlook Express to send
> e-mail to specific receivers like Bob Corbett using Plain
> Text settings only.  But this requires some fiddling that
> many of your list users may not be accustomed to do]
>
> Guy
>
> ======================
>
> I hope you can resubmit the post without attachments.
>
> Thanks,  Bob Corbett

--
Dr. David E. Lewis
Vice President
Manchester Trade Ltd.
International Business Advisors
1155 15th Street, NW - Suite 720
Washington, DC      20005
Tel 202-331-9464
Fax 202-785-0376
E-mail: DavidLewis@ManchesterTrade.com