Vacation in... Haiti?

[Pangloss]

 

Haiti doesn't have a lot going for it, but it does have tourism, of a sort. Cruise ships stop at isolated pockets of Haiti that are separated from the rest of the country in order to avoid any security concerns. I've been told by friends who've done these trips that visitors do not even enter the country in the sense of passport processing and so forth, and excursions are very limited.

 

A few news articles, mostly local here in South Florida (but some have been picked up by the wire services today), are asking the question of whether this is appropriate right now. Royal Caribbean, which operates one of these isolated pocket resorts, has apparently decided to continue, at least for the time being, citing the 500 Haitians it employs and the $55 million it recently invested in the area, as well as the millions that tourists spend when they go there.

 

They're also delivering aid with their ships, but I don't know to what extent that goes. Our school took up a collection and it's supposed to go out as part of a shipment on another Royal Carib ship next week, and given the reported problems at the airport it's not hard to see the advantages there. The resort shown in the image above is only 90 miles from Port au Prince.

 

I think it makes sense to continue, but if I were at RC (and I do have friends who work there), I'd be very leery about making a profit off Haiti during the recovery, no matter how bad the company's current economic situation may be.

 

What do you all think?

[CaptainPanic]

I think that the current situation is better than to abandon those tourist spots altogether.

 

I believe that a company who sails to Haiti is partially responsible for its employees in Haiti (apparently they employ 500 people) and their families. In an emergency like this, an employee might need to take time off to help his/her own family... and I hope that the cruise companies are forthcoming in that - preferably making this a paid leave - so that the locals don't lose income.

 

If these ships are indeed used (partially) as cargoships to deliver aid, then I absolutely approve of that. That would be a noble and also very logical choice... which might turn out to be quite significant given the size of these ships.

 

And profits - I don't know the financial situation - but helping out Haiti isn't expensive. It is one of the poorest countries in the world. I simply don't believe that some aid might endanger the profits of a large cruise company.

[insane_alien]

i was watching te news last night, and it seems that alrge amount of survivors are clamouring for jobs in order to get resources to help other survivors in their family. the fact that they have 500 haitians employed is a good thing as it is another route for financial aid ot neter the country(albeit roundabout) perhaps they should give them a bonus?

[bascule]

I think if I were vacationing in Haiti I would feel immensely awkward

[Sisyphus]

I think they're doing the right thing. This would be an especially terrible time to stop doing business with Haiti, and bringing aid makes it all the better.

 

That said, I agree with bascule. Of course, that kind of "walled off resort in desperately poor country" vacation would probably make me feel pretty awkward anyway, even if there's nothing actually unethical about it.

[Pangloss]

Yah, how could you not feel awkward, right?

 

Maybe it would be good if they offered "working excursions", where you could go work on the relief effort for a couple of days before you reboard your ship and sail off to the next port.

[Phi for All]

Maybe it would be good if they offered "working excursions", where you could go work on the relief effort for a couple of days before you reboard your ship and sail off to the next port.

What an interesting marketing concept. I'll bet it would either fall flat on it's face of take off like a rocket.

[bascule]

What an interesting marketing concept. I'll bet it would either fall flat on it's face of take off like a rocket.

 

It certainly plays into the white guilt the average yuppie is all about.

 

Considering Haiti was just hit by a 6.1 aftershock, vacationing there might be a bad idea

[Pangloss]

Newsweek has a new piece out today summarizing the situation with Labadee and Royal Caribbean.

 

http://www.newsweek.com/id/232770

 

... so far, the cruise line has brought nearly 400 pallets of ur-gently needed goods ashore. In addition, the company promised to donate all money made at the Labadee resort to the relief effort, at least until Feb. 1. Combined with passenger donations, they expect to reach $2 million in contributions. Royal Caribbean has also augmented an existing crew-welfare fund to provide up to $2,500 in grant money to any Haitian employee seeking to rebuild homes or find loved ones. Compassion leave has been extended from two weeks to indefinitely.

 

It's an interesting article, going on to talk about the various security precautions at Labadee, and some of the resorts owned by other cruise lines on other island nations in the Carib.

[Mr Skeptic]

As far as I know, tourism is all kinds of good for the country in question. Employing the locals with foreign money is also all kinds of good for their area. It's really a no-brainer, and considering the disaster there perhaps rich tourists wanting to go there now are likely to help them out.

[The Bear's Key]

I've lived in a similar kind of area, not as dirt poor but not too far off either -- perhaps somewhere in between -- and the reality is tourism's usually good for the wealthier sections and doesn't necessarily trickle to other parts. The workers might even be a lot of the well-off people or family connections.

 

Can't say that about Haiti, but it's necessary to keep that in mind, for a lot of tourist areas might be in fact like gated communities which the island's natives have little or no access to.

 

Research is always good, but considering the lack of infrastructure that's often difficult unless you've visited the area in person.