Saturday at Lifestyle Holidays Vacation Resort in Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic at the opening ceremony of the “V Cumbre Prensa y Turismo” [June 13 to 15], an event to which Haiti participated as guest of honor, Stéphanie Balmir Villedrouin, the Minister of Tourism and Creative Industries (MTIC), declared at the opening in front of the many participants : including journalists, civil servants, businessmen Dominicans and foreigners and representatives of the tourism sector, that the Punta Cana Group, will invest 200 million U.S. dollars in Haiti, in the tourism development project of the Region of Côtes-de-fer, mentioning in particular the construction of a private airport.

Let us remind to our readers that the Punta Cana Group has already come to Haiti in March 2013, to present a project of development of the destination http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-8164-haiti-tourism-group-punta-cana-resort-club-has-a-project-for-cotes-de-fer.html . August 16, 2013 the tourism development project of Côtes-de Fer, included among others, the construction towards 2015 of an irport with a runway of 2,400 meters, a shopping center, a golf course with 18 holes and 1,000 hotel rooms. The total project cost was estimated at $ 230 million http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-9243-haiti-tourism-tourism-development-plan-of-the-south-coast-of-haiti.html

Minister Villedrouin indicated that this airport will be close to the beach of Côtes-de-Fer, which has 26 kilometers of white sand and land available for the construction of nearly 3,000 rooms and tourist villas. She stressed that the Government of Haiti devoted considerable resources and many institutional effort to create the appropriate conditions for the launch of a major tourist destination. Recalling that 6 international hotel chains settled in Haiti; that the country had been removed from the list of countries where it is recommended to its citizens not to travel; that a tourist police force of 100 trained officers had already been established whose number will be doubled next year; that many tourist facilities had been made and that Haiti is ready to welcome tourists, both on the North Coast, the Midwest and along the coast of the Caribbean Sea.

Francisco Javier García Fernández, the Dominican Minister of Toursim praised the “courage and preparation” of the Minister Villedrouin and predicted that Haiti will experience “a great start” of its tourism through investments that begin, to the natural sites and historical heritage that this country has.

SL/ HaitiLibre