Haiti Names New Tourism Minister

Haiti’s renewed tourism hopes are now in new hands.

The country has named a new Tourism Minister to succeed former Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin, who went a long way in reviving the country’s long-dormant tourism sector.

The new minister is Guy Didier Hyppolite, who will now steward a sector that has re-emerged as a legitimate tourism destination in the Caribbean after years of neglect.

Didier pointed to Villedrouin’s work in his first address, saying that she had “managed the almost impossible challenge to put our beloved Haiti on the world tourist map.”

Now that job falls to Didier, who said he would continue to promote “the beauty of our beloved country” and to help assist operators and build the “structural foundation essential to sustainable development” of the sector.

Dider comes with hands-on experience in the sector, most recently serving as the general manager of the Le Relais de Chateaublond restaurant in Haiti’s Canne a Sucre historical park, among other posts.

It remains an uphill climb for Haiti as a destination, but Hyppolite enters the post with momentum from new airlift from carriers like JetBlue and Haiti, a new all-inclusive resort, the Royal Decameron, and a host of new hotels, both open and in development.

In a statement, Villedrouin said her greatest wish was that Haiti would continue on its plan to receive 2 million annual visitors and 30,000 hotel rooms by the year 2035.