Two Different Worlds on One Island: The Dominican Republic and Haiti

The Dominican Republic and Haiti share an island, but aside from that, they are vastly different. If you look at the border via satellite you see a distinct difference between the Haitian and Dominican sides. The Dominican side is green and full of vegetation while the Haitian side is arid and barren of any trees. This stark contrast is only a surface level insight when it comes to discussing both nations.

Put side by side, the Dominican Republic seems like the true paradise. Tourism is central to their economy, it’s one of their main economic pillars. In the last five years the Dominican Republic has seen robust levels of growth, achieving a 4.6% of GDP in 2017 (Trade Commissioner, 2017). Specifically to tourism, the Dominican Republic keeps reaching new heights with an all-time high record arrival of 6.2 million visitors, which is a 6.8% increase since 2012 (The World Bank Group, 2017). Trends estimate that they will reach 10 million visitors and in turn generate an estimated revenue of $7.2 billion dollars. With these metrics, there is much foreign direct investment (FDI) being noted throughout the eastern part of the island. All of these projects lead to a continued increase of spending per tourist that arrives to the Dominican Republic.

Haiti on the other hand, has not seen the same trends or impact of tourism in their region. For premise, Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake that practically flattened the already struggling nation. Its effects are still very present today and can be seen in the nations low international arrival metrics. In the latest analysis from the World Bank Group, Haiti had welcomed 516,000 international visitors to their nation, which when compared to previous years was an all-time high. As noted in Figure 2, Haiti averaged below 100,000 visitors for much of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.

Figure 1: The World Bank Group Annual Arrivals for the Dominican Republic

Figure 2: The World Bank Group Annual Arrivals for Haiti

It would be unfair to compare the established tourism network of the Dominican Republic to that of Haiti. As aforementioned, the Dominican Republic has tourism as one of their economic pillars, Haiti cannot do this until they have the infrastructure to support their nationals, as well as their visitors. The Dominican Republic has investment that Haiti does not. In terms of destination marketing, the Dominican Republic has always been able to capitalize on their beautiful beaches and luxurious resorts. For example, Grupo Puntacana, a top developer in the Punta Cana region, has been evolving their portfolio since the late 1970’s. In fact, the entire Punta Cana region, which is the resort region that sees the most arrivals on a yearly basis, was developed with private funding. Punta Cana International airport which to looks like a luxury hotel, was developed through foreign direct investment. It wasn’t until the Dominican Government saw the positive impact of the projects that they wanted to give monetary support for future developments. In the case of Haiti, they don’t have the funds nor do they have the same interest from foreign investors.

The overarching question for Haiti is what’s next regarding their tourism? This is the question the World Bank raised in a publishing back in April of 2018. In analysis, it is noted that many tourists come from cruise lines who dock at ports and allow guests to explore the island and return to the ship to sleep at the end of the day. Due to the lack of infrastructure on the island to withhold mass tourists, cruises could continue to play a major role in welcoming tourists to the island. It is important that the Haitian Government plays a role in planning with cruise lines where to visit, because having visitors spread throughout the island could greatly impact and improve the local economy. For example, Royal Caribbean Cruises takes passengers to the North Coast to Cap-Haitian’s historic city center as well as to National History Park (World Bank Group. 2018). The area itself is currently experiencing high levels of urbanization and hosts 290,000 residents, with projections of 330,000 residents by the year 2020.

As stated by Anabela Abreu, World Bank Country Director of Haiti: “There is a growing demand to develop the North as a tourism destination in a sustainable way and to improving the generation of economic opportunities. With this is mind, the World Bank is supporting the government’s development strategy in the North and finances a large integrated program in the region to provide better delivery services and road connectivity” With the investments Haiti does have, they must make sure that they are investing in the correct projects, with a vision of economic growth for the nation through tourism.

Both the Dominican Republic and Haiti have complicated governments and have been put in very different situations when it comes to their tourism sector. In regard to the Dominican Republic, it is going to be interesting how they will leverage foreign investment with government funding to not only continue to grow and keep up with increased arrivals, but to support the communities that live in the affected areas. In the case of Haiti, it is going to imperative for them to invest in the correct projects to increase their inbound tourist outlook. It is defiantly going to be interesting following these various developments in the Caribbean in the next years.

References:

Data.worldbank.org. (2018). International tourism, number of arrivals | Data. [online] Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.ARVL [Accessed 27 Aug. 2018].

Puntacana.com/about/fact-sheets. (2018). Puntacana. [online] Available at: http://www.puntacana.com/about [Accessed 27 Aug. 2018].

Tradecommissioner.gc.ca. (2018). Dominican Republic Economic Report 2018. [online] Available at: http://tradecommissioner.gc.ca/dominican-republic-republique-dominicaine/market-facts-faits-sur-le-marche/0001545.aspx?lang=eng [Accessed 27 Aug. 2018].

World Bank. (2018). What is next for Haiti’s tourism? Improving resilience and creating a new destination in the Caribbean. [online] Available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2018/04/03/what-is-next-for-haitis-tourism [Accessed 27 Aug. 2018].