Above: the Citadelle Laferriere near Milot

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti has announced plans to construct a multimillion-dollar “Craft Village” in Milot the north of the country.

Milot is the town located near Haiti’s world famous National Historical Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site near the city of Cap-Haitien.

The plan, which was announced by Haiti Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin on her visit to the ITB Berlin travel show this week, is being supported by the United Nations World Tourism Organization and the European Union.

“It’s a way to integrate the community in tourism development — it’s a way to promote our artists, the different value chains of the tourism economy,” Villedrouin said in Berlin. “By creating this village, we will focus in the same area, in the same concept and region, different aspects of our culture, different aspects of our gastronomy, different aspects of a lot of other projects like our rum and our cassava and, of course, our arts and crafts, which is known throughout the Caribbean and throughout the world.”

Villedrouin said the craft village would local artisans the chance to be “in direct exchange” with visitors coming to the creative village.

Right now, the plan is to open the craft village in Milot by February 2015, according to the Minister, with eventual plans to replicate the village in other touristic regions in Haiti, she said.

“We will be working continuously with UNWTO and other partners to fund these types of concepts for the community and for Haiti,” she said.