Above: the signing ceremony on Thursday (Photo: MT Haiti)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti’s Tourism Ministry and the city of Montreal, Canada have signed an agreement aimed at developing tourism in the Caribbean country.

The memorandum of understanding, which was signed by Haiti Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin and Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre on Thursday in Montreal, is similar to other agreements Haiti has signed with foreign municipalities — most notably, one signed with the City of New Orleans.

The agreement was also signed by the Office of Tourisme Montreal.

In a statement, Villedrouin said the agreement was aimed at initiatives in areas like tourism, natural resources, culture and local history and general tourism promotion, among others.

“Ut’s about helping Haiti to promote its tourism, to benefit from expertise, from the frameworks of Tourisme Montreal, to prepare an annual events calendar, to create a touristic bridge between the city of Montreal and Port-au-Prince so that Quebec can adopt Haiti as a tourist destination, and vice versa,” she said.

Quebec has been one of the focal points for Haiti’s renewed tourism push, home to tourism giant Transat, which began offering travel packages to Haiti last year and added a new package last week.

The agreement is valid for a two-year period, according to Haiti’s Tourism Ministry.

“Our greatest need is to address the image of the country,” Villedruoin said.