Invited by "Laboratorio arts contemporains", a joint Haitian delegation from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Industries (MDT) and of National Bureau of Ethnology (BNE) staying in Benin from 9 to 20 January to take part in cultural and tourist exchanges, participate in the 24th celebration of the national festival of the Vodou in Ouidah (Benin) and to the meetings here and elsewhere of the "Laboratorio d’Art Contemporain".

Through this representation of Haiti, the Ministry of Tourism intends to use the podium offered by Benin to promote ethno-tourism and memory tourism on the basis of a circuit basically constituted of the history of the transatlantic slave trade and colonial slavery, as well as common cultural traits such as Voodoo shared by both nations.

Tuesday 10 January was the day of the official celebration of the national holiday of voodoo rich in music, dances, traditional rites and endogenous religions. For more than twenty years, thousands of people from all over the world have visited the community of Ouidah in order to enhance the splendor of this festival. Haitian artist Erol Josué, Hougan and Director General of BNE, spotlighted the Haitian culture by giving a live performance in a concert at the Historic Museum of Ouidah at the end of Vodou Day.

The Ministry of Tourism of Haiti hopes to use these typical cultural events to promote common elements that Haiti shares with Benin and also take advantage of Benin's know-how in the development of tourism in Haiti as a historic destination.

Last Saturday, Godson Lubrun, the representative of the Ministry of Tourism, met in Cotonou with Sonia Couao-Zotti, Chargé d'affaires cultural at the Embassy of Haiti in Porto Novo (Benin).

On the menu of these exchanges, there was question to work on developing an agenda to facilitate from early Monday, meetings of the Haiti Ministry of Tourism with representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and other local operators in the tourism industry in Benin.

Moreover, on the sidelines of these meetings, the Representative of the Ministry plans to have a working session with members of the Haitian community in Benin, with a view to obtaining their active participation in the campaign to change the perception of Haiti.

SL/ HaitiLibre