Above: Haiti Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin and New Orleans

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti and the City of New Orleans, Louisiana are primed to work together on developing tourism in the Caribbean country, following a two-day visit by Haiti Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin.

Villedrouin’s visit included talks with city officials on the development of a joint programme based on cultural tourism, heritage management and the creation of a “tourist police.”

Villedrouin also held a working meeting with New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, signing a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry and the City of New Orleans.

The agreement expresses both sides’ interest to “jointly improve the capacity of cultural tourism in Haiti as part of a series of exchanges.”

Villedrouin and the Haitian delegation made a presentation on the country’s “Destination Jacmel” project, which seeks to enhance the tourism product in Haiti’s cultural capital.

The minister also held discussions with a group of sheriffs in New Orleans to strengthen the tourist police initiative, which will reportedly officially launch at the end of September.

Modeled on similar units in other country’s, the role of Haiti’s tourist police will likely be primarily informational in nature.