The island, discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus, was colonized by the Spanish who were searching for precious metals. In 1697, the French settled in the western part of Hispaniola, which they named Saint-Domingue. They then took away labourers from Africa, whom they needed to cultivate the sugar cane, coffee and cotton that was to be sent to wealthy Paris.
Black slaves revolted in 1791 and, under the leadership of Toussaint Louverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Henri Christophe and Alexandre Pétion, started a war that ended in 1804 with a declaration of independence. Saint-Domingue then reverted to its original name, Haiti, and became the second independent country and oldest republic of the New World after the United States, and the first black republic in the world.
Two hundred years later, tourism is very slowly developing in Haiti, as the last few years have been marred by unprecedented social and political turmoil. Although the republic celebrated the bicentennial of its creation in 2004, it is not unusual to see deserted beaches and nearly empty or even closed hotels. In fact, the only visitors in Haiti are mostly members of the international community, business travellers and Haitians living abroad. However, cruise tourism is still somewhat prosperous thanks to the Labadie terminal, near Cap-Haïtien, which still welcomes about 10,000 visitors each month and neighbours Coco Beach, one of the main Caribbean resorts, which itself welcomes 4,000 visitors per week.
Despite everything, Haiti has many great discoveries to offer those who thrive on exploration-style trips. And the country’s people, even though living in poverty, will almost always welcome them with a smile.
In 1954, for the 150th anniversary of independence, statues of the four heroes of independence, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Henri Christophe, Toussaint Louverture and Alexandre Pétion, were erected in Port-au-Prince at Place du Champ de Mars (facing the Palais National).