VO Script

02.19

Situated in the middle of the Caribbean, Haiti is one of the poorest nations on the planet, and is often known as a cursed land, a victim of all number of calamities.

02.31

From the devastating earthquake in 2010 and a near constant threat of hurricanes, to Duvalier’s bloody dictatorship rife with state corruption.

Haitians today owe their survival to humanitarian aid.

02.52

But in the last couple of years, Haitians have sought to take control of their destiny, believing they have found their salvation in tourism.

03.11

One and a half hour’s drive from Port au Prince on the Arcadins coast lies Haiti’s tourism Eldorado.

Today you will find eight all-in clusice luxury hotels sit side-by-side on a long stretch of beasch.

One of them, the Kaliko Beach Club, is undergoing renovation.

03.35

AN American hotel franchise has just ploughed 15 million dollars of investment into this 55 bedroom complex.

03.43

Fritz Parets, the man behind this ambitious venture, hails from Miami, Florida.

05.27

Last year, Haiti saw more than one million tourists arrive on its shores, but that is still some way behind its neighbour, the Dominican Republic.

It is also true that the majority of these visitors come from the Haitian diaspora.

In raising the standards on offer at this hotel, Fritz Parets hopes to prompt a return to the country’s heyday.

06.18  

Four decades on from the golden age of Haitian tourism, the new owner believes that mass tourism could return to the island.

This stretch of the Arcadin’s coastline in particular has been scouted as a potential tourist magnet – untouched by the natural disasters that have ravaged the rest of the country, and secure enough to guarantee visitor’s safety.

08.49

According to Islet [EEZ-LEH], tourism is a family business.

His father, like him, was a plumber in this very hotel, whilst his grandfather was a tour guide back in the ‘60s. 

He therefore takes his work very seriously.

09.23

The majority of the hotel’s 135 staff are Haitians, like Islet, and are paid a relatively high wage by Haitian standards.

10.27

835 euros per month is a small fortune in a country where the minimum wage is 74 euros a month, and where ¾ of the population live below the poverty line.

11.39

Even though they share food, Isleh’s family leave the dinner table with full stomachs.

11.50

Thanks to his job at the hotel, he was able to build himself this accommodating four bedroom house.

12.52

Thanks to these solar panels, Isleh has power 24/7 – a rare luxury here, alongside access to clean water on the site of the household.

13.27

Until recently, workers in the tourist industry were trained on the job. But to regain their crown as the star attraction of the West Indes, some hoteliers have decided to invest in professionals.

13.50

Liline is 22 years old. She was hired by Kaliko 3 months ago as an apprentice. This is a real opportunity for her – the service industry is the only one offering stable employment in the region.

Most young people who fail to find work in this sector choose to emigrate.

14.28

Liline has chosen to stay. Every afternoon after work, she goes to Vivario, a hotel management school, built and financed by a Brazilian NGO in 2013. 150 students are currently enrolled.

15.35

The school receives no external funding – it survives off of the students’ fees, just over 10 euros a month throughout their two years of training. It’s a significant investment made in the hopes of securing one’s future.

16.24

The Haitian tourist industry currently employs 3500 people, but as it expands, it is the economy as a whole that stands to benefit.

First in line to reap the rewards, is agriculture. Once the bedrock of the Haitian economy thanks to its worldwide export network, it is no longer the powerhouse it once was. 

Having worked the land for 23 years, Ms Inel now finds that her soil is depleted.

17.28

From mineral depletion in the soil caused by mass deforestation, to competition from cheaper American and Dominican goods, Haitian farming is collapsing, as they are barely able to sustain a monoculture on their farms.

17.49

Fulfilling the needs of the coastal resorts is a struggle.

Ms Inel, one of the Kaliko’s suppliers, must look elsewhere to get the fruits that she can no longer grow herself, such as mangos or pineapples.

18.36

Judson is in charge of placing supply orders for the hotel. Asides from the likes of chicken and rice in particular, he aims to source as much as he can from local farms.

19.31

If the tourist industry is to be Haiti’s salvation, it is only because of the failure of the state to provide the most basic commodities and services to its ailing population – most notably an education system.

A lack of funds means that public school teachers cannot rely on a steady paycheck, and as a consequence, refuse to teach.

Those Haitians with the means at their disposal opt for private schooling, as Islet did with his children. 

20.42

Given the scale of the investment, Islet is keen for updates on his children’s progress.

21.52

One of the greatest challenges facing this new generation is the preservation of their environment.

A few hundred meters away from the luxury resorts, the riverbeds have the appearance of open-air dumping grounds.

Charles Fombrun, who represents a group of coastal hotels, comes regularly to assess the damages.

22.49

Given the seriousness of the situation, as well as the unpleasantness of the view to visitors, the hotel managers are taking matters into their own hands.

23.29

The idea is to enforce a sort of tourist tax, amounting to a few euros per person, per night – something which Charles is hoping to establish within the next few months.

23.46

The official line is that touristic development has been the government’s priority since 2011, but in reality, this has amounted to little more than some PR campaigns and some tax cuts intended to attract foreign investment, thus handing over the operation to the private sector.

24.19

But for Charles Fombrun, simply getting bodies on the beach is not enough. He wants people to experience the unseen cultural heritage that Haiti has to offer.

25.14

Charles and his family decided to turn these colonial ruins into a museum to bring the country’s history to the fore.

26.17

The tourists uncover the colonial history of the island – the richest in the west indes at the time – as it exported sugar and coffee around the world.

The colony was particularly dependent on slave labour, and was notorious for its brutal treatment up until 1791, when they launched their bid for freedom following a huge voodoo ceremony.

28.06

Will the development of the tourist industry heal the scars of history? And will it finally grant the Haitians true independence? It could be the last great hope for a country that is forever being rebuilt.