Haiti - Tourism : Political instability, major impediment to investment in the tourism sector
During a conference debate at the hotel Le Plaza, bringing together key players in the tourism industry, on the theme "How to benefit of incentives of the Investment Code" under the guidance of the Tourism Association of Haiti (ATH), the Interministerial Investment Commission (CII) and the Investment Facilitation Center (CFI); Stéphanie Balmir Villedrouin, the Minister of Tourism and Creative Industry, which took stock of the last four years, during which the Government has supported and accompanied a set of investment projects in tourism and related services, for an amount to over 345 million US dollars (345,423,867 dollars) including :
35 tourist accommodation projects ;
4 tourist transport projects of national characterl ;
2 tourism projects (Marina Blue and Duty Free Americas of Haiti) ;
2,180 rooms in total, are built or being built ;
100 apartments are under construction ;
A hundred new tax with drivers-guide in circulation.
These projects have created 3,425 direct jobs and 10,275 indirect jobs (every direct job creates 3 indirect jobs), or a total of 13,700 direct and indirect jobs in tourism and related services.
In his speech the Senator Jocelerme Privert, stressing the importance of the role of tax incentives in the investment projects, has deplored that the investments in the tourism sector were slow to materialize. He believes that this situation was caused by constraints of infrastructure and energy levels but mainly the political instability was a major barrier for investors, that are reluctant to the business environment in Haiti.
He estimated that more incentives, other factors must be considered to attract investment and increase the growth of the country, claiming that Haiti needs of a continuous growth of over 5%, to reach in 2060, the current level of Dominican Republic.
