Photo Credit: Andreas Hobi
Since the recent Haiti earthquake, there has been much controversy over the topic of traveling for pleasure to this now upturned country, especially with Haiti cruises. Although it is a less traveled destination than say the Dominican Republic with which Haiti shares a main land, there are still plenty of scheduled pleasure cruises that visit its ports each year. Now that the country is suffering and there is a shortage of food, water, and medical supplies, is it ethical tourism to still take a vaca to Haiti?
Whether you are for it or against it, the cruises to this country are still happening nearly every day. Royal Cruises is still taking passengers to the beautiful beaches of Labadee which is completely unaffected by the earthquake where they spend a day in the sun enjoying all of the beach side niceties of any coastal tourist destination. The vacationers relax in comfort and luxury as hundreds of thousands of bodies lie unrecoverable from the devastating disaster just on the other side of the landmass.
This has been outraging many activists to the area as well as survivors and families of victims. Although it is important for Haiti to maintain revenue from the tourist flow, the economy would at this point in time better benefit from the same tourists coming in and donating that money to relief efforts and supplies. CNN put together an article that details the intricacies of the issues surrounding Haiti cruises.
