On Monday, at the office of the Ministry of Tourism located at the Champ de Mars, a major talk was held around the prospects for reviving tourism in the context of the Covid-19. This debate which brought together on the same panel Ms. Myriam Jean, the Minister of Tourism, Mr. Abner Septembre, Minister of the Environment, Mr. Frantz Exantus, the Secretary of State for Communication, Mr. Kesler Bien-Aimé, professor in History of Art and Archeology, and several executives of the Ministry of Tourism, aimed to present the vision, missions and recent achievements of the Ministry of Tourism, but also to arouse reflection around projections in the short, medium and long term for Haitian tourism.

The debates focused in turn on the tourism potential of the natural and cultural heritage of Haiti, the various projects of the Ministry of Tourism such as that of Heritage and Support to the Tourism Sector (PAST), that of the Integrated Region of Tourism Development (RIAT), but also on the legal project, and sectoral partners in tourism such as the Ministries of Culture, Environment, Agriculture and that of Haitians Living Abroad.

In front of an audience made up of representatives of the tourism industry - such as the Haiti Tourist Association (ATH) - and several members of the spoken, written and television press, Minister Abner Septembre in his speech on the eco tourism maintained that "tourism must preserve its identity and work for the protection and development of Haiti", a statement corroborated by Ms. Jean, her tourism counterpart, who continued by adding that "Today more than ever, we must define ourselves as a free and unique people."

This talk was also a pretext to propose a tourism recovery plan based on 7 pillars:

-The capacity building of actors and organizations in the sector.

-The strengthening of the health framework and the revision of the regulatory framework.

-Support for training in tourism and hotel trades.

-The establishment of a financing strategy for the development of tourism and attracting investment in the tourism sector

-The increase in awareness of the destination Haiti in the main source markets.

-The development of the cruise tourism sector.

-Support for the revival of domestic tourism.

"Moreover, if it is imperative to find the means to adapt our tourism to the context of Covid-19, it is just as important to continue to lead the battle for the revival of tourism activities, the latter having an impact direct on the economy of the country, in particular in the creation of employment and wealth, as well as the entry of currencies which contributes to the balance of payments, "indicates the Ministry of Tourism. H

HL/ S/ HaitiLibre