1. Active Countryside Tourism
23-25. 01.2013, Leeds, United Kingdom
Leeds Metropolitan University,
ICRETH
Session 5: ‘Stakeholders and tourism
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN TOURISM AS A development’
DRIVER FOR RECOVERY AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
Dr Hugues SERAPHIN
COUNTRYSIDE IN HAITI.
PhD PGCE MA
THE GUEST HOUSES AS A STRONG
POTENTIAL OPTION
Lecturer in Event Management
and Marketing
(The University of Winchester)
Associate researcher
CREDDI-LEAD 2438 Guyane
hugues.seraphin@winchester.ac.uk

2. HAITI

3. ENVIRONMENTAL OVERVIEW OF HAITI
Haiti was once the richest French colony. Haiti was even
called the ‘Pearl of the Antilles’ (Séraphin, 2011)
Fragile state:
Lack of political will/capacity to provide:
Basic functions needed for poverty reduction and
development
Safeguard human rights of the population
Public services
Vulnerable state:
Public policies
Economy
Shaped by external forces
(Moita, Gautier, 2010)

4. 1 – Introduction CONTENTS
2 – Purpose of the study
3 – Literature review
4 – Opportunities available for
locals to set up their own
business
5 – Potential and limits of rural
tourism and guest houses in
Haiti
6 – Conclusion and
recommendations

5. 1
INTRODUCTION

6. INTRODUCTION
Haiti used to be the most popular tourist destination in the
Caribbean between 1940e – 1960e
(Séraphin, 2011)
Nowadays, Haiti is mainly known as one of the poorest and
dangerous country on earth. It is also now a country with a very
low ‘touristicity’
(Theodat, 2004)
The Port-au-Prince Declaration (2011) put forward the creation
of small and micro enterprises (SMEs) as one of the seven key
pillars for growth in the tourism industry in Haiti
Rural tourism can be an opening for developing countries
(Grandoit, 2005)
‘Tourists want more than bed-and-breakfast. They want
something you can’t pay for – getting to know people...I am
offering myself and my home’
(Stringer,1981)

7. 2
PURPOSE OF THE
STUDY

8. (a) Recognising the potentials of tourism, entrepreneurship and
rural tourism in Haiti
(b) Increase the number of locals involved in rural tourism

9. 3
LITERATURE
REVIEW

10. Entrepreneurship plays an important role in economic
growth, innovation and in poverty alleviation
(Landes, 1998)
Michel (2000) claims tourism can fully benefit a destination, only
if the locals are fully involved in the planning and development
of the industry.
According to Manyara and Jones (2005), micro and small scale
enterprises can increase the participation of the poor in the
tourism industry
Entrepreneurship in (rural) tourism seems to be a possible option
for Haiti in its attempt to develop its tourism industry, reduce the
high rate of unemployment and improve the standard of living
of the locals.

11. 4
OPPORTUNITIES

12. The Digicel Entrepreneur of the Year programme
Build new economic foundations for Haiti
Rewarding and cultivating the new business leaders of Haiti
To be short-listed, the projects must:
Show a clear strategic direction
Be innovative
Have a positive impact on the local community

13. MEMA (Mon Entreprise Mon Avenir) project
Funded by the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund
Turn Haitians’ ventures into profitable
businesses
To be short-listed, the projects must be:
Sustainable
Innovative
inclusive
http://memahaiti.org/qparticiper.php

14. MEMA / DIGICEL
Both projects are supposed to be inclusive
HOWEVER
Application requires a ‘Business plan’
50% of the population in Haiti is illiterate
65% of the population in Haiti lives below the threshold of poverty
(Roc, 2008)
In South Africa, Kristen and Rogerson (2002), noticed a limited
involvement of the locals in entrepreneurship programmes because of
the limited education of most of the locals
There is no financial product (Micro Finance Institutions) orientated
towards micro and small-scale enterprises in Haiti. The MFI deliver
credit to micro and small enterprises and contributes to poverty
reduction by providing poor people access to financial services (Van
der Sterren, 2008). Limited personal and family savings and an absence of
financial innovation severely limit the growth prospects of promising
start-ups in developing countries (Lingelbach, 2005)

15. 5
POTENTIAL AND LIMITS
OF RURAL TOURISM /
GUEST HOUSES

16. Research methodology and design
In terms of method we are going to use a qualitative approach. The
Association of the Peasants of Vallue (APV)will be sued as a case study.
We are starting with the assumption that this hospitality service offered by
this CBT has a rather positive impact overall on the area of Vallue.
Also, in order to identify the challenge of running guest houses in Haiti, we
are going to analyse the feedback of visitors who went to Haiti and stayed in
guest houses. Our source of information is the well established website
TripAdvisor. Eleven (11) name of accommodation have the terminology
‘guest house’ in their name. We only considered those one to make sure that
no other type of accommodation were falsely taken into account. Each guest
house has been graded from 1 to 4 (1: excellent / 2: Very good / 3: Average /
4: Poor / 5: Terrible) using the feedback of the visitors. The results of the
study will also enable us to identify the key issues with the guest houses in
Haiti.

17. APV
•Positive economic impacts:
Consuming organic food  Modernisation of agriculture and
other rural activities
Haitian dishes, using particularly natural  Demand for goods and services
food of the area in partnership with local increase
farmers as providers  Food, drink and necessary products
will be produced by the local farmers
and purchase by the tourists
All modern facilities are also available  Create employment (especially for
for seminary, conference, honeymoon the rural youth)
we offer you excursion, picnic on the  Income level will rise
mountain with troubadour, ethno-  Generate foreign exchange
botanic guidance, good music, movie,  Local and small business will be
dance, traditional society games benefited
Haitian dishes, using particularly natural
food of the area in partnership with local
farmers as providers

18. APV
•Positive socio-cultural impacts:
sharing with the farmers their  Cultural understanding
culture and acknowledges  Exchange of cultural beneficial
for both locals and tourists
we offer you excursion, picnic on  Increase in participation in rural
the mountain with troubadour, tradition and cultural practices
ethno-botanic guidance, good  Traditional products will become
music, movie, dance, traditional even more popular
society games
Haitian dishes, using particularly
natural food of the area in
partnership with local farmers as
providers

19. APV
•Positive environmental impacts:
Hotel Villa Ban-Yen is the ideal place  Help in create and maintain the
natural park
on the mountain to breathe fresh and
 Learn the importance of
pure air preservation of natural resources
 Learn to preserve the natural
habitats, bio-diversity and
historical monuments

20. TRIPADVISOR
Only 54% of the guest houses in Haiti on TripAdvisor have been reviewed
(and graded). Out of those 54%, some the guest houses have been graded as
good (3) or excellent (2).
Even if we know that those results are only descriptive (and not
representative) of the situation they enable us to come to the conclusion that
guest houses in Haiti are rather good compared the hotels Ian Thomson
(2004) stayed in. In fact, 6 of the 8 hotels he stayed in were graded as being
‘terrible’ (Séraphin, 2012b).
Our study has some severe limitations has it relies on an extremely limited
sample. The limitations of this research suggest the need for further studies.

21. Financial sector modernisation in some developing countries has been
pushed in recent years through so-called Microfinance Institutions
(MFIs).They deliver credit to micro and small enterprises and contributes to
poverty reduction by providing poor people access to financial services
(Van der Sterren, 2008).
A well functioning financial sector contributes positively to the level of
economic growth and have pro-poor effects only when poor have access to
credit and savings services provided by banks (Beck et al., 2004).
The fact that in Haiti poor people are not considered as clients in a way limit
the potential positive impact of the various initiatives. Entrepreneurs in
emerging markets rely heavily on informal sources of finance to start their
business (Bygrave, 2003). Limited personal and family savings and an absence
of financial innovation severely limit the growth prospects of promising
start-ups in developing countries (Lingelbach, 2005).
Tourism is a service industry and benefits strongly from liberalised and
open economies (Van der Sterren, 2008).

22. 6
CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

23. Because guest houses involve a low cost investment due to the fact
they are converted home, they appear as an ideal solution for poor
people to step in the tourism industry
The guest house option has also the advantage of tying each Haitian
family to the tourism sector and to the broader economy. Thus
ensuring that the population recognizes how important tourism can
be to the country’s economic development (Edmunds, 2012)
Haiti has a master card to play, namely its authenticity. It is one of the
latest untouched territories of the Caribbean. Moreover, the tourists by
staying in guest houses are guaranteed to get ‘authenticity’ as
opposed to staged performance described by Thomson (2004) in
resorts where everyone plays a role.
The key issue of Haiti’s development (therefore for its tourism industry)
relies on the fact that Haiti has been lead so far by ‘professional
politicians’ and not ‘Presidents’ with a genuine interest for the
development of the country (Barreau, 2013). Leadership is therefore
the key issue of the country.

24. Active Countryside Tourism
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN TOURISM AS A 23-25. 01.2013, Leeds, United Kingdom
DRIVER FOR RECOVERY AND Leeds Metropolitan University,
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ICRETH
COUNTRYSIDE IN HAITI.
Session 5: ‘Stakeholders and tourism
THE GUEST HOUSES AS A STRONG development’
POTENTIAL OPTION
Dr Hugues SERAPHIN
PhD PGCE MA
Lecturer in Event Management
THANK YOU FOR YOUR and Marketing
ATTENTION! (The University of Winchester)
Associate researcher
ANY QUESTION? CREDDI-LEAD 2438 Guyane
hugues.seraphin@winchester.ac.uk