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By Jacqueline Charles

When Royal Caribbean Cruises launches the world's largest cruise ship -- the 220,000-ton Genesis -- late next year, passengers traveling onboard to Labadee, Haiti, will get an added bonus: They'll no longer have to be ferried across the idyllic sea.

After months of negotiations, the Haitian government and the Miami-based cruise line have signed an agreement to build an 800-foot long, $27 million pier that will allow cruise passengers easier access to the secluded beach.

Haitian President René Préval's government also has agreed to extend the company's current lease of the 260-acre luscious peninsula along Haiti's north coast from the year 2026, when it was due to expire, to 2050.

"This is a big thing for Haiti, a really big thing, and we are hopeful this will be somewhat of a catalyst to get the government to understand the potential for viable tourism in Haiti," said Craig Milan, president of Royal Celebrity Tours, which arranges land-based excursions in conjunction with cruises on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruise lines.

Milan and John Weis, director of private destinations for Royal Caribbean Cruises, flew to Haiti for a few hours one day last week to sign the memorandum of understanding with Préval, who has spoken about the importance of tourism to Haiti's weak economy but has struggled to attract visitors and new ventures amid Haiti's security woes.

"The extension of Royal Caribbean's activities here will bring us more tourists and it sends a positive statement to investors," said Haiti Finance Minister Daniel Dorsainvil, the government's lead negotiator on the deal.

Currently, Royal Caribbean employs about 300 workers who on cruise ship days work as bartenders, cabana boys and musicians. Hundreds of other Haitians find employment as hair braiders, folkloric dancers and artisans in an arts and crafts market.

Last year about 500,000 passengers visited Labadee, and provided more than $3 million in revenue to the Haitian coffers. Passengers currently pay a $6 government "head tax," which under the new agreement will be raised to $10 to help finance the pier, and used to develop Haiti's tourism market, government officials say.

"There will be many new opportunities for entrepreneurship, tour operators and other vendors who want to supply goods and services for the site. We are very excited about it," Weis said.

Once a popular tourist getaway in the Caribbean, Haiti has been struggling to rebuild its troubled image amid years of political instability and unrest. Aside from the cruise ship passengers, who don't really get to see the mountainous country during their eight-hour stays, visitors are mainly Haitians returning home, diplomats, peacekeepers, journalists and missionary workers.

While both sides still must hammer out the final details of the deal, supporters say they hope the investment will spark confidence in the country by other investors, while leading to jobs and a transformation of Haiti's northern corridor as a tourist destination once more.

"The development of the north as a destination depends on our capacity to receive the Genesis cruise ship," said Haiti Tourism Minister Patrick Delatour, a supporter of the deal, who has been working on a tourism master plan that includes a new airport for Cap-Haitien and new roads leading from the city to the Dominican Republic border. "Before the end of 2010, the north will be a serious destination."

But such a goal will take more than plans. It also takes money and commitment, say Haiti watchers. In a country often criticized for missed opportunities and its slow pace, the Royal Caribbean deal stands out because it occured over a matter of months -- rather than years.

But critics say now is the time for the government to step up, and provide among other things -- the building and maintaining the road between Cap-Haitien and Labadee Village, establishing a police presence in the village due to the growth in population and finding a way to build other excursions around the pier like making it easier for tourists to visit the historic Citadelle fortress, built by slaves.

"What they need to do is bring a big developer to the northern area and look from the sight to the Citadelle and see what can be developed. That would bring jobs to the private sector," said Maryse Kedar, a former Haitian tourism minister who is president of Societe Labadie Nord, known by the acronymn Solano, which runs the Labadee operation. "This is a huge opportunity for Haiti. Now the government needs to get organize with the private sector."

Source: Miami Herald