Above: Ile a Vache

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti’s recently-revived tourism push has a major focus: developing the island of Ile a Vache.

The government said this week that it’s projects on the island had already launched, with plans for 1,000 luxury hotel rooms, an archaeology museum, nightclubs, art galleries and craft boutiques.

The government has built a 2.6-kilometre runway with plans for an international airport, with the construction already underway.

In a statement this week, Haiti’s Ministry of Communication said several dredging projects had also been completed, along with a new courthouse, a rehabilitated police station and a new school that is almost complete and the installation of around 250 street lights.

Haiti said around $50 million USD had been mobilized on projects on the island, which is home to about 15,000 people on about 289 square kilometres off the southeastern coast of Les Cayes.

Last year, Haiti’s Ministry of Tourism released its initial plans for the island, which centered around sustainable tourism and around 1,500 units.

The development of 1,000 hotel units would make Ile a Vache among the largest ongoing tourism projects in the Caribbean.

Another Caribbean island, Guiana Island off the coast of Antigua, is also the site of a major potential project by a Chinese investor.

There’s also the still-in-development Baha Mar project, which is slated for completion in the spring of 2015.