Club Med closed in May 1999, citing lack of business, though Haitian officials say they expect it will reopen. Jacqualine Labrom, an independent travel agent, recently struck a deal with Coco Tours, which brings 1,000 Scandinavians per week to the Dominican Republic for a two-week stay. Tourists visit the capital, sample indigenous fare, and shop for handicrafts at a mountainside gift store. Coco tours also stops at the popular Oloffson Hotel in the only leafy section of the capital. Although hotel owner Richard Morse profits from the business, he is reluctant to promote Haiti to the uninformed tourist.
Tourism is such a huge endeavor.
There are no phones, no medical service, no roads. It's because of such inconveniences that Haitians who can afford to often prefer to take a weekend break in the United States, or travel across the border to the Dominican Republic. One of the destinations Labrom offers is the renovated hotel Relais de l'Empereur in Petit Goave, a two-hour drive southwest of the capital. But he returned in 1991 to fix up the dilapidated home of Haitian Emperor Faustin Soulouque, who lived there from 1849-1856. The reception area of the brick structure is scattered with small tables holding chess boards.