For nearly four decades, hundreds of thousands of travelers a year have stepped onto Haitian soil at Labadee and left with almost none of their money in Haitian hands. That has to change, and a Haitian-owned theme park on the North coast is how we change it.
At its peak, Labadee drew more than 700,000 cruise visitors a year, making it Haiti’s largest tourist destination. Yet those visitors stay inside a private, fenced peninsula leased to Royal Caribbean since 1986. They eat at the cruise line’s cafés, ride the cruise line’s zip line, and buy drinks charged to their ship card.
What reaches Haitian families is real but small: about 300 jobs at the resort and roughly 200 vendors selling crafts at the on-site market. Locals have long described it plainly: there is one Labadie for the foreigners and another for everyone else. A visitor can spend a full day in Haiti and never meet the country.
Today the ships are not coming. Royal Caribbean has suspended all Labadee calls through June 2027, citing guest and crew safety; no scheduled ship has docked there since early 2025. The 62 visits planned for the first half of 2027 have been sent to Nassau, Cozumel, Grand Cayman and the company’s own Perfect Day at CocoCay.
That is painful, but it is also a deadline. The competition is not waiting: Royal Caribbean opened a new beach club in the Bahamas and plans Perfect Day Mexico for 2027. If Haiti simply waits for the ships to return to the same fenced beach, we return to the same arrangement.
The months before reopening are the time to plan, raise capital and secure land. When the ships come back, Haiti should have something new to offer them: a reason to step beyond the fence.
Imagine a theme park within a short boat or bus ride of the Labadee pier, owned by Haitians and built around what only Haiti can offer. Not a copy of Orlando, but a celebration of the first free Black republic.
- Liberty Kingdom: an immersive zone on the Haitian Revolution, with shows on Toussaint Louverture, Dessalines and Christophe.
- Citadel Adventure: rides, climbing walls and a scale model of the Citadelle Laferrière, paired with guided trips to the real fortress.
- Taíno Water World: a water park themed on the island’s first people, with lazy rivers and slides facing the bay.
- Kanaval Street: year-round carnival music, rara bands and dance shows.
- Taste of Ayiti: food stalls serving griot, diri ak djon djon, pikliz, Haitian coffee and Rhum Barbancourt.
- Artists’ Village: studios where Jacmel papier-mâché makers, Croix-des-Bouquets metal artists and painters work and sell directly.
Every ticket, meal and souvenir would be paid to a Haitian business. That is the whole point.
The North already has everything a world-class attraction needs except the attraction itself.
- A ready audience. Thousands of passengers arrive on a single ship day, with money to spend and a full day ashore.
- History no one else has. The Citadelle Laferrière and Sans-Souci Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, sit less than an hour away in Milot.
- A real city nearby. Cap-Haïtien has an airport, a port, hotels and a proud cultural life although it’s dirty now.
- Natural beauty. Mountains drop straight into turquoise bays along the whole coast from Labadie to Cormier and beyond.
Cruise lines want shore days their guests talk about. A safe, organized, distinctly Haitian park gives Royal Caribbean a new excursion to sell, and gives passengers a reason to choose Haiti over another beach in the Bahamas.
Even a modest share of Labadee’s past traffic would change the local economy. As a simple illustration: if one in five of 700,000 yearly visitors spent $60 at the park, that is about $8.4 million a year flowing to Haitian hands.
- Jobs: ride operators, cooks, performers, guides, drivers, security, maintenance and management, many of them for young people in the North.
- A supply chain: local farmers, fishermen, bakers, rum producers and artisans selling to the park every day.
- Skills: training in hospitality, engineering and safety that stays in Haiti for a generation.
- Public revenue: taxes and fees that can fund roads, water and schools in Labadie, Cap-Haïtien and Milot.
- Pride and image: a place where the world sees Haiti through its genius and its history, not only its crises.
And it would not depend on cruise ships alone. Haitian families, the diaspora on summer visits, and tourists arriving through Cap-Haïtien could all fill it.
A serious proposal names its obstacles. These are real, and each has an answer.
- Security. Insecurity is why the ships stopped. The park must come with a credible security plan, a protected transport corridor from the pier, and close coordination with the cruise line’s own safety teams.
- Royal Caribbean’s cooperation. Passengers leave the fence only through approved excursions. The park should be designed as a partner the cruise line can sell and vouch for, not a rival.
- Infrastructure. Roads, power, water and waste systems must be in place before opening day.
- Governance. Investors need clear land titles, transparent contracts and protection from corruption. A public-private structure with independent audits would build that trust just like they do in the Dominican Republic
- Starting small. A phased build, beginning with a cultural village and water park, lowers risk and proves demand before the larger rides.
Haiti, you can do this and more!
To the Government of Haiti: Make this a national priority. Set aside land, guarantee security for the site and its access roads, offer tax incentives to Haitian investors, and open talks with Royal Caribbean now, before the ships return.
To the Haitian diaspora: You send home billions every year to keep families alive. Imagine pooling even a fraction of it into a project that builds wealth instead of only covering needs. A diaspora investment fund or bond could own a real stake in Haiti’s future.
To Haitian entrepreneurs and the private sector: Bring your restaurants, your crafts, your music and your management skills. This park should be built by Haitians, for Haitians, and shared with the world.
For almost forty years, visitors have come to Haiti and seen only a beach. Let us show them a nation. The ships will come back. The question is whether, this time, Haiti will be ready to welcome them beyond the fence.
Garry Muzeau
Tours In Haiti