One island, two worlds a Case study of Haiti and the Dominican Republic

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper examines the contrasting faces of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, two countries who despite being located on the same island territory in the Caribbean and sharing a number of historical and political similarities, still showcase drastically different stages of development. This thesis will attempt to explain the reasons behind such a disparity by reviewing the socio-political and economic factors responsible for the huge gap between the two countries. This research will take a particular interest in studying the development of the tourism industry in both nations to illustrate the direct impact of those named factors at a sectorial level. Though Haitian tourism flourished in the 60’s and 70’s, it has since declined while tourism in the Dominican Republic has risen as of the 1980’s. This country is now a formidable contender in the region both as a touristic destination and as a rapidly developing economy. This thesis will show that the similarities between Haiti and the Dominican Republic are only superficial and that deep-rooted macroeconomic issues affect the development path of each of nation. Thus by better understanding the rationale for one country’s success against the other’s decline, this paper wishes to offer the groundwork for policy actions towards the greater development of the Haitian touristic industry.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS VI
• I. IINTRODUCTION 1
• 1.1 PROBLEMS AND OBJECTIVES 1
• 1.2 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS 4
• 1.3 STRUCTURE OF THE WORK 5
• 1.4 METHODOLOGY AND DATA 7
• 1.4.1 Type of study 7
• 1.4.2 Data 7
• II. HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IN THE 1970’S-1980’S 8
• 2.1 A BRIEF HISTORY OF HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 8
• 2.2 POLITICAL CONTEXT 9
• 2.2.1 Haiti 9
• 2.2.2 Dominican Republic 10
• 2.3 SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT 11
• 2.3.1 Haiti 11
• 2.3.2 Dominican Republic 13
• 2.4 ECONOMIC CONTEXT 14
• 2.4.1 Haiti 14
• 2.4.2 Dominican Republic 15
• 2.4.3 The Caribbean Basin Initiative 16
• 2.5 CONCLUSION: A DIVERGING DEVELOPMENT PATH 19
• III. THE IMPORTANCE OF TOURISM TO CARIBBEAN NATIONS 20
• 3.1 TOURISM: A DEFINITION 20
• 3.2 TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN THE CARIBBEAN 21
• 3.2.1 Tourism in Haiti and the Dominican Republic in the 1970’s 23
• 3.3 TOURISM TRENDS IN THE CARIBBEAN REGION 25
• 3.4 TOURISM AND ECONOMIC GROWTH 27
• 3.4.1 Existing studies 28
• 3.4.2 Competitiveness 29
• IV. CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE COMPETITIVENESS OF HAITI’S AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC’S TOURISM CLUSTER 31
• 4.1 MICHAEL PORTER’S DIAMOND MODEL 31
• 4.2 ANALYSIS 35
• 4.2.1 Haiti 36
• 4.2.2 Dominican Republic 40
• 4.3 IMPACT OF EXOGENOUS FACTORS 45
• 4.3.1 Government 45
• 4.3.2 Chance 47
• 4.3.3 The importance of country image 49
• V. REASONS OF THE DECLINING COMPETITIVENESS OF HAITI’S TOURISM INDUSTRY 51
• 5.1 ECONOMIC REASONS 52
• 5.2 SOCIO-POLITICAL REASONS 56
• 5.3 ENVIRONMENTAL REASONS 60
• VI. CONCLUSION AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS 62
• 6.1 CONCLUDING REMARKS 62
• 6.2 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS 66
• REFERENCES 74
• APPENDIX 81