Can Haiti’s tourism get its groove back? For Dina Simon of My Haiti Travels (MHT Global, LLC), that is the goal, and she won’t relent until Haiti’s tourism gets its groove back, and gets it back again and again. She’s among many entrepreneurs who are recognizing the need to revitalize Haiti’s tourism industry and are using their business acumen to lend a capable hand in increasing the flow of tourists to the country.

Simon’s firm, which she founded in 2012, was conceptualized with the sole intention of drawing pleasure-seeking tourists and well as luxury travelers to Haiti.

Born in Haiti, the entrepreneur immigrated to the United States when she was nine years old, settling in Brooklyn with her family, before moving on up to Long Island during her high school years. Very much goal-oriented throughout her life, she enrolled in college and earned her Bachelor’s degree, and eventually a Master’s, landing herself a plump position at a New York city agency as a public servant.

The Senior Manager roles she has held really prepared Simon for the mechanics of successfully running her own company. My Haiti Travels is fresh off one of its first excursion to Haiti—the Impact Week Haiti tour—in which Simon guided more than a dozens to breathtaking sites all over Haiti. It was important to her that these tourists saw Haiti in a new light—a positive light, and to make them repeat visitors of Haiti’s destinations. The My Haiti Travels tour took the travelers, ranging from executives to a preteen to hotspots in Port-au-Prince.

Simon goes all out in promoting Haiti as well as her company, hiring Daphne Leroy, of DML Media Group, to vigorously publicize her venture, and her objectives. My Haiti Travels has a strong and consistent presence on social media networks.

Simon has launched a newsletter which has a subscriber count of 600 and counting. When she’s not hard at work brainstorming new ways to usher tourists to Haiti and sell Haiti’s countless charms to them, Simon is busily drawing up proposals for new business partnerships that are designed to propel My Haiti Travels Global ahead in the Haiti traveling game.

Q & A

How would you sum up your company?
My company is a boutique concierge firm that coordinates high-quality travel services to Haiti for leisure and business purposes. Our representatives liaise with hotel and resort establishments, restaurants, and professional tour guides to provide unique experiences tailored to each client’s specific needs, lifestyle, and budget. At My Haiti Travels, we believe the best way to support Haiti is to visit, support local businesses, and give back directly to the people in need through volunteerism. Our goal is for all friends of Haiti to truly experience and enjoy the real Ayiti and all its glory.

How did the idea for your company come about?
The idea for My Haiti Travels was formed after organizing a trip to Haiti for a couple of friends. I could not find a reliable source that provided me information on where to stay, where to eat and what to do; when I did find information it was outdated. I had been to Haiti months prior and knew there were restaurants, bars, resorts, beautiful beaches, spas, and even a hookah bar. I was shocked that those things were not prominently showcased anywhere. Once I was able to secure the right services while in Haiti, my friends and I had the best experience ever.

When I came back to New York, I envisioned creating a service that had a directory of places in Haiti, but with reviews and ratings, similar to Yelp. I wanted people to have information and to help them make informed decisions about where to spend their money. At My Haiti Travels, we believe that if you frequent an establishment and spend your money you should get good service—even in Haiti. Businesses survive because of their customers.

Another vision we had for My Haiti Travels was to make it easy for you to travel to Haiti. A lot of people we spoke to didn’t visit Haiti because they didn’t know where to start, where to stay or where to eat. Haiti is a foreign place to many of us. At My Haiti Travels, you tell us how you want to spend your time and we’ll arrange it. We work with your budget, and build your itinerary on what works for you; after all it is your time.

What sort of challenges do you encounter in running your firm?
The biggest challenge in running my firm is balancing time. I have a full-time day job so there’s never enough time in the day to accomplish everything with my business. Since we’re a start-up, there is not a big budget to hire staff so we rely on volunteers. Without a dedicated staff at the end of the day all the balls drop in my court. Hopefully that will change soon but until then it’s a constant sacrifice—late nights and weekends, less time with family and friends but in the long run it will be worth it.

Now, in terms of running a travel and tourism agency targeted towards a country that’s stigmatized and that’s been portrayed negatively in the media—-how do you handle that?
We have to tell Haiti’s story, past, present and future. We’re all very much aware of Haiti’s challenges. I don’t think any one of us can ever deny them. However, the time has come for us to take a different path and do something new. Our President Michel Martelly has said “Haiti is too rich to be poor,” and he’s right. I’m not just talking about material wealth. I’m talking about things you can’t put a price on.

I also think we as a people need to do a better job about the image we present to others about Haiti. When I meet people and I tell them about Haiti and they see my pictures they are surprised. Most of them tell me their perception of Haiti is from Haitian-Americans who have never visited or it’s been decades since they’ve been to Haiti.

Since the perception of Haiti is one of my biggest challenges, My Haiti Travels constantly educates people by showing the different sides of Haiti. Through our newsletter titled “See Haiti Through Our Eyes,” we try to change perception by focusing on the positive, but not ignoring the struggle. We believe that people should visit Haiti themselves before they form an opinion.

Haiti’s tourism boom peaked in the 40s, then the 1950s, then in the 1970s and 1980s. Do you think it will regain its footing in the tourism industry?
Absolutely, Haiti is currently in the process of a tourism boom. There’s a lot of building, plans for hotels and restaurants, training for the tourism sector, and investment in infrastructure. A lot of people are organizing tours to Haiti. There’s adventure travel, volunteer travel, and there’s a combination of both.

Simon poses with her traveling clients. Photo: Sebastian Narcisse, My Haiti Travels

The first five-star hotel was inaugurated in Haiti about [in December] and there’s encouraging news about the tourism sector. I believe travelers are looking for a different type of vacation as the days where people are confined to a resort are gone. Haiti offers a mixture for people who want adventure, authenticity, and want to discover culture and history.

If you were counseling aspiring entrepreneurs, what would you tell them about your journey?
I would advise them to have a plan and to be flexible. You must be willing to adjust your plan based on internal and external factors. I would advise aspiring entrepreneurs to align themselves with people who share and support their vision. Until you have the support from someone who believes in what you’re doing, it’s hard to get off the ground. You need someone who’s willing to get in the trenches with you, sees your vision and can serve as an advocate for you.

Finally, I would say believe in it. If you don’t believe in it, no one else will. When I talk to people about Haiti, they tell me they see my passion for Haiti. The thing is I’m only telling my story, my experiences. Once you believe in it, it’s easy for someone else to do the same.

Throughout this journey, my proudest moment has been booking two people who have not been back to Haiti in over 30 years. I cannot wait to capture the moment they step off the plane, as they get re-introduced to their country. That’s what My Haiti Travels is about, that’s our vision – “See Haiti Through Our Eyes.”

Any last words?
Kat, thank you for giving me this opportunity. From the beginning of this journey, you have been a major inspiration for me. Thank you for all your tips, and for educating me about Haiti through Kreyolicious Magazine. What you are doing is necessary for us as a people, a culture, and a country. Please continue to educate us on all things Haiti. Thank you to all who believed in the My Haiti Travels vision for Impact Week Haiti 2013, including our media partners BelTiFi, Kiskeacity, Manman Pemba, Haitian-AllStarz, Haiti 1 Stop, HaitiXChange, Radio Soleil, and the Stewardship Report. There are a lot of amazing entrepreneurs and organizations supporting Haiti daily via diverse platforms, so let’s continue to support them. Haiti needs us. We can’t do it alone. We owe it to each other. We owe it to those who came before us. We owe it to Ayiti. L’union fait la force.

God Loves Haiti author Dimitry Elias Leger is based in Switzerland—in that country’s capital Geneva to be precise. While getting all the deets on his novel, I decided to get some insight into the Haitian community in Europe. Feel free to eavedrop on our convo. You know you’re always welcome to eavesdropping, dear kreyolicious cheries.

Kreyolicious: How is Geneva looking right now? Is it awfully cold?

No. Geneva is consistently quite warmer than New York City. We’re six hours south of Paris by car. So, the weather’s like Virginia or North Carolina. Spring jumped off [two months ago]!

Kreyolicious: Oh.

Paris is on the same weather axis as New York, but no where is as cold as New York City in winter. Not even Stockholm.

Kreyolicious: I imagine the Haitian community there is huge, considering Paris isn’t too far away. Is that the case?

The Haitian community in Paris is decent. I wouldn’t call it huge. When [Haiti’s] President [Michel] Martelly held a public meeting a few months, I was told there were about 600 people. There’s about 400 in the Geneva area. I learned when I did a book signing in Stockholm [in February] that we were 500-deep in Sweden! I met the president and vice president of the Haitian community organization of Sweden.

Kreyolicious: Too cool! When you’re in Geneva, what do you miss about France?

I live on the French side of Lake Geneva, literally on the border of Switzerland and France. When I’m in Geneva, I like it’s big city glamour and German efficiency and neatness. When I cross the border back to France, I love the relaxing nature of the countryside. With the alps on one side and the lake on the other side, sometimes I feel like I’m in Haiti driving for Port-au-Prince to Carrefour—where I grew up.

Right: Author Dimitry Elias Leger at a book signing event in Switzerland.

Kreyolicious: When you’re in Haiti, what do you miss about Brooklyn?

I never miss Brooklyn! When I’m in Haiti, I just can’t believe I have to leave. Period. Seriously, New York made me. Brooklyn is in my DNA. But the American city I tend to miss is Miami. I lived there for two happy years when I was a reporter at the Miami Herald. Miami is the right mix of some of the best things about Haiti and the great things about America.

Kreyolicious: Those who live in Switzerland and Sweden…from what you’ve been able to tell—tend to move directly from France or directly from Haiti?

The Haitians I’ve met in Switzerland and Sweden came directly from Haiti. There are about 800 Haitians in the French-speaking part of Switzerland and 500 spread throughout Sweden. Some may have come after a brief stay in Canada or the US, but most seem to have come from Port-au-Prince directly.

Kreyolicious: As someone who’s also lived in the United States, how do you think the Haitian communities in North America and Europe compare?

In France, specifically in Paris, I find Haitians are about as assimilated as in the U.S. in the sense that they hold white collar jobs, culture-making jobs, and form a large percentage of the cab drivers. My guess is that there are probably more Haitian bankers and doctors and engineers in the U.S.A and Canada than in France. France may offer an easier transition from Haiti for Haitians, culturally, but the society is not as open to boot-strapping, social-climber like America is. Haitians routinely overachieve in America. France, like all European countries, likes to keep its immigrants on the periphery of its economic and political power centers. Americans, Haitian or not, who live well in France often come here with high-powered American educations and American income streams. There are as many sons and daughters of cab drivers now thriving in the French middle class as there are in, say, Brooklyn. For example, the Haitian middle class in America has grown so much in the past 15 year that now you can find high end and fast food Haitian restaurants in fashionable neighborhoods in Miami and Brooklyn. When I had a cab driver help me track down the sole Haitian restaurant in Paris once, he didn’t want to let me out of the car because he felt the neighborhood was too dangerous. Turned out the neighborhood wasn’t that bad, but the griyo was terrible.

Be sure to CLICK HERE to VISIT DIMITRY ELIAS LEGER’S WEBSITE | CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HIS BOOK GOD LOVES HAITI

Toby Simon is the woman behind Travels With Toby. She’s one of the many entrepreneurs who’ve noted the tourism potential in Haiti, and have dived right in. Call her style…boutique tourism. She searches out small groups and brings them to Jacmel and other less-frequently traveled areas in Haiti. It’s all about making it a unique experience for these travelers, and making a big deal of everything Haiti has to offer.

Kreyolicious: Tell us about yourself and how you came upon Haiti.
My professional work is in health education and public health. My area of expertise is in human sexuality which I’ve taught at numerous colleges and universities. About Twenty-One years ago, my husband was contacted by a board member at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital [medical facility in Haiti]. They were recruiting him to be their CEO. He couldn’t take the position at that time, but said he’d love to volunteer as a pediatrician for a few weeks so the Haitian physicians could take some vacation. It was a year after the latest coup d’etat and things were a bit dicey in Haiti. What else is new! I wanted to go and wasn’t sure what I’d do there. In the end, my expertise and fluency in French turned out to be a huge plus for the community health department of the hospital. And for me, it was the beginning of my love affair with Haiti. I even took daily Kreyol lessons with one of the local boys.

Kreyolicious: Out of all Haiti’s cities, what drew you to Jacmel?
All my Haitian friends recommended I visit Jacmel. They talked up the art scene, the progressive politics, the sea, and the small town charm. My husband and I went on a vacation there and then we were both hooked!

Kreyolicious: What’s the Haiti tourism scene like from your perspective?
I’m always pleasantly surprised when I meet other tourists in Haiti. Last December I met a group from England which was just great. So from my perspective, Haiti needs tourists. Badly. They need people staying in the lovely small hotels in Jacmel and Cap Haitien and PauP AND spending money in local restaurants and in local art shops and galleries. Haiti doesn’t need all inclusive hotels like the DR because the local communities don’t benefit from them. I’ve met slot of the Haitian diaspora who are vacationing in Haiti and they are always very positive about the experience. I’ve been bringing American tourists on my tours and they have loved the experience.

Sharing the Jacmel experience with a group.

Kreyolicious: What do you feel is lacking?
There are some of the typical infrastructure problems. For example, if you could land in Port-au-Prince and then get a small plane to Jacmel, Les Cayes or Port Salut, you could save so much time and avoid the horrendous traffic in Port-au-Prince. Finding local drivers is very easy in Haiti and the hotels can easily set up visitors with drivers. Security and safety are always a concern which is why I use a driver and sometimes a rental car. And we avoid areas that might be unsafe—especially in the evening. There’s not that much lacking as far as I’m concerned: tourists to Haiti are special types of tourists. They’re not looking for deluxe hotels, gazillion amenities and abundant towels in the hotel room. They are looking for authenticity and adventure. They are open-minded about seeing parts of the world that have many assets—and not just problems.

Kreyolicious: What do you feel is being done right?
I love the appreciation from every Haitian I’ve encountered when I’ve told them about Travels With Toby in Haiti. Haiti is open for business, and eager to have it. Being totally “herself” is what people love about the country.

Kreyolicious: For those who’ve never heard of Haiti or those who have heard not too positive things…what’s it like recruiting them?
So far, I haven’t recruited anyone who’s reluctant to come. People ask about safety issues and even they know that parts of Brooklyn are a lot more dangerous than Haiti! People usually have questions about the food, what to do about the water, what kinds of places we will visit.

Kreyolicious: What has the reaction been from the tourists you have brought into Haiti so far?
They have loved the experience! I bill or promote the trip as eco/educational. Since I’ve been working and visiting Haiti for the past Twenty-One years, I have lots of contacts with wonderful organizations that are doing exemplary, sustainable and vital work. We visit these places and it’s been a hugely popular aspect of the trips. We do not do any service work since I feel one of Haiti’s big problem is that there are way too many Non-governmental agencies in Haiti. The planes are full of people with rescue fantasies and missionary groups. These visitors do nothing for the tourism industry. They don’t truly understand sustainability, and it’s not clear to me if they want to.

One of the prerequisites prior to a TWT Tour is to do some reading on Haiti and viewing some videos about the country. However, my experience from Twenty-One years ago and that of all my TWT travelers, has been that even if you’ve done some reading, you are never truly prepared for what you’ll see. The grinding poverty is pretty overwhelming and Americans rarely are exposed to this in our country. Part of why my tours include visits to sustainable NGOs and other organizations is to balance the feeling overwhelmed by the sights in the streets with projects that are actually hopeful, impactful and efficacious.

I also include readings on sustainable development. A huge problem in Haiti, also known as The Republic of 10,000 NGOs, is the vast number of these groups in the country. There’s a lack of communication among many of them, little coordination, and way too much unaccounted money. In my opinion, some of the missionary groups may be the worst offenders. Many are so focused on orphanages and don’t want to acknowledge that orphanages represent colossal failure of the system. They think that holding and kissing Haitian orphans will be impactful to the child. Or that building new orphanages is the solution. It’s frustrating to me and I think I owe it to people coming on my trips to get as good an understanding of sustainability as possible, to see the ways that some “do-gooders” aren’t really effective. The tourism industry could be the ticket to get Haiti moving in the right direction, just as it’s done in the Dominican Republic. Haiti doesn’t need American visitors painting schools, dispensing toothbrushes or building more churches. Haitians need jobs, infrastructure, a working and transparent government among other things.

I’m on the boards of two wonderful Haitian organizations: the YWCA Haiti and GOALS Haiti. My tours usually involve visits to these groups.

Above: One of the beaches that Travel With Toby takes her Haiti tourism clients.

Kreyolicious: You have referred to your Haiti tourism activities as informal. Moving forward, do you see yourself getting more corporate?
I think the idea of bringing corporate types to Haiti is an excellent one. I’ve made some attempts to bring high level university officials to Haiti, with no success. I would love to work with corporations!

[All photos courtesy of Travels with Toby]

CHECK OUT TRAVELS WITH TOBY, AND BECOME A TOURIST ON ONE OF HER TRAVELS WITH TOBY HAITI TOURS!