Executive

Haitian Minister of Tourism Signs Understanding for 250-room Hotel at Toussaint International Airport

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - Minister of Tourism, Stephanie Villedrouin and Rolando Gonzalez-Bunster, representative of the U.S. firm, Haiti Hotel Corporation (HHC), and Gregory Mevs of WIN Group signed a memorandum of understanding to pave the way for the construction of a 250-room hotel and conference center directly adjacent to the Toussaint Louverture International Airport.

The Argentine entrepreneur, Gonzalez-Bunster, first announced the agreement in September of 2010, with the WIN Group, a Haiti-based enterprise. The project was expected to break ground by December of 2010 and had an 18-month window to complete its construction. The fully-enclosed $47 million [US] cost is expected to construct a hotel on a 5.3 acre parcel of land with on-site power plant, water treatment, sewage and related facilities.

"This is such an important project on so many levels," WIN Group Managing Partner Youri Mevs said at the September 2010 announcement. "Not only will it provide badly-needed hotel and conference facilities, but will employ hundreds of local workers in desperate need of generating revenue to support themselves and their families."

Tourism Minister Villedrouin stressed the positive aspect of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding at the end of the panel on tourism at the Invest in Haiti Forum on Tuesday.

Villedrouin, reached by Le Nouvelliste , said "we must send the signal that the procedures to build the hotel in the vicinity of the airport Toussaint Louverture have eased." The minister added that she is committed to providing Haiti Hotel Corporation (HHC), Win Group and other partners support, incentives and other means to materialize the project.

200 jobs are expected to be created through the project. WIN Group's Gregory Mevs, a partner in the project, told the newspaper that the partners involved in the project will release an official statement on Wednesday.

"An official [statement] will come out tomorrow. It will provide all the details. The signing was a bit of a surprise by the extent it was done on Tuesday," said the businessman.

The signing of the memorandum took place less than twenty-four hours after a deal between Marriott International and Digicel for the construction of a $45 million [US] hotel, expected March 2014.

The number of hotel rooms in the capital and its surroundings are near 1200 with the expected completion, in the next two years, of other projects including the Oasis, Best Western, El Rancho and others.