This Tuesday 1 May 2012, fifteen crew members of "Freedom of the Seas" one of the cruise ship of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), have visited the Citadelle and the Sans Souci Palace, classified historical heritage, in order to verify the quality of tourism products and the structures of receptions.

This visit could foster the establishment of a circuit of visits of historical monuments and sites for the thousands of tourists cruising of the RCC, that dock each week on the north coast and whose the stay is limited to the private beaches of Labadee and to the local visits of local crafts shops, without leaving teh Cap Haitien.

Ms. Dieudonne Luma Etienne, Director of the Ministry of Tourism in the North that accompanied the crew members in these exploratory visits welcomed this initiative "This is a victory to be able to get tourists from Royal Caribbean to the citadelle [...] they gave us some tips to improve the reception and to better control the services of travel on horseback, as well for the sale of our crafts products"

That same day, Stéphanie Balmir Villedrouin, the Minister of Tourism was in Jacmel to attend the Mass celebrated for the Feast of Jacmel 1st May. Subsequently she went to the marina where she was awarded Honorary Citizen of the city of Jacmel, because of her dedication to the cause of tourism in Haiti and particularly for the city of Jacmel. During this ceremony, the Mayor of Jacmel symbolically handed him the keys of the city.

The Minister expressed her gratitude to the local authorities and to the population of Jacmeland reiterated its commitment to implement tourism projects and restoration work and of construction of certain sites of Jacmel, the city of Simon Bolivar, that the Colombia should fund as part of bilateral relations.

TB/ HaitiLibre