This week alone, Punta Cana is expecting approximately 785 flights, bringing tens of thousands of visitors, millions of dollars in spending, and thousands of jobs to the Dominican economy. Every landing aircraft represents hotel reservations, taxi rides, restaurants, excursions, souvenir shops, tour operators, fishermen, farmers, musicians, and families whose livelihoods depend on tourism.
Meanwhile, Haiti, a nation blessed with some of the most spectacular coastlines and untouched natural beauty in the Caribbean, continues to watch from the sidelines.
This is a message to the Ministry of Tourism of Haiti:
It is time to wake up. It is time to shake our bodies and move.
Yes, North American governments have issued travel advisories and restrictions. Yes, the international perception of Haiti is difficult. But tourism does not begin and end in Miami, New York, or Montreal.
The Caribbean is larger than North America.
Why are we not mobilizing our tourism offices and representatives in the diaspora to promote another vision of Haiti?
Why are our tourism departments in Jamaica, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and other Latin American and Caribbean countries not actively selling the Great South of Haiti?
The southern peninsula remains one of the last untouched tourism frontiers in the Caribbean:
- The crystal waters of Côtes-de-Fer.
- The breathtaking beaches of Port-Salut.
- The natural beauty of Côteaux and Roche-à-Bateau.
- The history and charm of Les Cayes.
- The paradise islands surrounding Jérémie and the Cayemites.
- The mountains, waterfalls, caves, and authentic culture that mass tourism has not yet destroyed.
The world is increasingly searching for authentic experiences, not only giant resorts and concrete buildings.
The Great South of Haiti possesses exactly what modern travelers seek: authenticity, culture, adventure, nature, and human connection.
Instead of waiting for conditions to become perfect, Haiti should be negotiating immediately with regional airlines such as Copa Airlines and charter operators to create tourism packages connecting Panama City, Bogotá, Kingston, Quito, and Santo Domingo directly to the south of Haiti.
A traveler from Colombia or Ecuador does not necessarily view Haiti through the same lens as Washington or Ottawa.
Regional tourism can become Haiti’s bridge toward recovery.
Imagine weekly charter flights landing in Les Cayes or Jérémie.
Imagine hotels reopening.
Imagine fishermen supplying restaurants.
Imagine young people becoming guides, drivers, captains, cooks, entertainers, and entrepreneurs instead of searching desperately for opportunities abroad.
Tourism is not merely about beaches.
Tourism is economic oxygen.
The Dominican Republic understood this decades ago and built airports, roads, marinas, and partnerships. Today the results speak for themselves as hundreds of aircraft arrive every week bringing prosperity to their communities. Haiti possesses similar natural gifts but has not yet matched them with vision and investment.
The Great South does not ask for charity.
It asks for leadership.
It asks for infrastructure.
It asks for marketing.
It asks for air connections.
Most importantly, it asks for the courage to believe that Haiti can compete again.
History will not remember the excuses.
History will remember the leaders who had the courage to build.
The sleeping giant of Caribbean tourism is not in Punta Cana, Cancún, or Montego Bay.
It is waiting in the Great South of Haiti.
The question is simple:
Will Haiti continue watching planes land elsewhere, or will it finally prepare its own runways for the future?
Garry Muzeau
www.toursinhaiti.com
info@toursinhaiti.com
