This document summarizes Ian Thomson's travel book "Bonjour Blanc, A Journey Through Haiti". It analyzes how the book can be seen as an allegory for Haiti's tourism industry and how it could be used as a marketing tool. Key symbols in the book represent different aspects of Haiti's attractions, infrastructure, and relationship between locals and visitors. While the book provides insights into Haiti, it also illustrates some shortcomings in the country's informal and underdeveloped tourism sector. The document concludes that the book could help Haiti identify strengths and weaknesses in its tourism industry and image to improve its strategic marketing.

1. International Conference on
Literature and Tourism
Faculdade de Letras Da Universidade De
Lisboa
26-27 November 2012 Dr Hugues SERAPHIN
PhD PGCE MA
Lecturer in Event Management
and Marketing
(The University of Winchester)
BONJOUR BLANC, A
JOURNEY THROUGH HAITI Associate researcher
CREDDI-LEAD 2438 Guyane
AN ALLEGORY OF THE
TOURISM INDUSTRY IN HAITI
Hugues.seraphin@winchester.ac.uk

2. HAITI

3. BONJOUR BLANC

4. CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. HAITI: AN OVERVIEW
3. BONJOUR BLANC, A JOURNEY
THROUGH HAITI: A GOOD TRAVEL
WRITTING
4. BONJOUR BLANC, A JOURNEY
THROUGH HAITI: A MARKETING
TOOL
5. CONCLUSION

5. 1
. INTRODUCTION

6. INTRODUCTION
‘Bonjour blanc, a journey through Haiti’ is the tale of a life
experience. It has therefore a witness value and thus is
trustworthy
(De Ascaniis & Grecco-Marasso, 2011)
Many of the persons, situations, actions and places
mentioned by Ian Thomson suggest or represent other
meanings. They are symbols
(Perrine, 1974)
Our main objective in this paper is to identify those symbols
and also the messages Thomson is implicitly trying to convey

7. 2 . HAITI:
AN OVERVIEW
2.1)
Environmental overview of Haiti
2.2)
The tourism sector in Haiti

8. ENVIRONMENTAL OVERVIEW
Haiti was once the richest French colony. Haiti was even called
the ‘Pearl of the Antilles’ (Séraphin, 2011). Nowadays, Haiti is one of
the poorest countries in the world (Roc, 2008).
Fragile state:
Lack of political will/capacity to provide:
Basic functions needed for poverty reduction and
development
Safeguard human rights of the population
Public services
Vulnerable state:
Public policies
Economy
Shaped by external forces
(Moita, Gautier, 2010)

9. TOURISM SECTOR
+ +
Political stability Country image Intention to visit
-
- -
Political
instability
(Hai & Chick, 2011)

10. 3 . ‘BONJOUR BLANC, A
JOURNEY THROUGH HAITI’:
A GOOD TRAVEL WRITING
3.1)
Presentation of ‘Bonjour blanc, a
journey through Haiti’
3.2)
Presentation of the tourism sector in
Haiti via ‘Bonjour blanc, a journey
through Haiti’

11. BONJOUR BLANC...
Ian Thomson = Tintin
Reporter/journalist
Visited destinations with military dictatorship
Journey fraught with problems/accidents
Detailed information about the destination visited
Ian Thomson’s journey:
Description of tourist
attractions, hotels, restaurants, transport, etc.
Interacting with locals
History of Haiti
‘Bonjour blanc’ = Grand Tour
Ian Thomson = Samuel Johnson (Rasselas Prince of Abyssinia)

12. BONJOUR BLANC...
Bonjour blanc: A good travel writing
Weaves a lot of information
 Arise the reader emotions and energy
Provides a vivid insight of the country
Life is relatively in balance, with disaster
Opposing forces
Fundamental conflicts between subjective expectation
and cruel reality
Looking behind the mask
Identity of the main protagonist
(Woodside & Megehee, 2010)
+
Be a useful tool for the DMO

13. BONJOUR
BLANC...TOURISM IN HAITI
(Thomson, 2004) (Cooper et al., 2005)
Accommodation / Restaurants / Transports / Attractions /
Events / Consumer

15. BONJOUR
BLANC...TOURISM IN HAITI
Inappropriate
Accommodation + Restaurants Amateur sector
Not organised
Transport Very dangerous
 Rich heritage
Attractions
Benefits only for
Relationship locals/visitors tourists
Not a natural
relationship

16. SYMBOLS (1)
Archetype Travel writing gist Examples
The reed Strong, flexible, adaptable The Oloffson (microcosm of
the overall tourism sector in
Haiti)
The anti-hero Destruction and attraction of evil Haitian government
Powerbroker Authority, influence and domination The USA, the media, NGO

17. SYMBOLS (3)
Archetype Travel writing gist Examples
The mother-of- Nourishment The cruise sector (with the resort
Labadee)
goodness
The enigma Mystery, suspense and Are they tourists? journalists, aid
uncertainly workers, military personnel,
documentary film-makers, art
collectors, and up-market literary
travellers
Tourism sector profitable for the
locals?
The loyalist Trust, loyalty and reassurance Barbancourt rum
Prestige beer

18. SYMBOLS (4)
Archetype Travel writing gist Examples
The little Humour, non-conformity and the The relationship local/visitor
element of surprise
trickster
The creator Creative inspiration The Haitians
The siren Power of attraction, linked with Attractions in Haïti (Citadelle la
the possibility of destruction Ferrière, Le Marche de Fer,
Jacmel, etc.).

19. 4 . BONJOUR
BLANC
A MARKETING TOOL
4.1)
Travel writing: An influencing tool
4.2)
Bonjour blanc: A SIT product

20. MARKETING
Williams and Zelinsky (1970) have identified several factors
that may explain why people decide to go or not to a
destination. Among these are:
Information fed back to people in the generating country
from tourists who have made previous visits to the destination
country
Literary tourism
There is a fascination about places associated with writers
that has often prompted readers to become pilgrims.
(Eagle & Carnell, 1977)

21. 5
. CONCLUSION

22. CONCLUSION
Bonjour blanc, a journey through Haiti’ includes some very
strong symbols that are either places (i.e. the Hotel
Oloffson), chapters (i.e. chapter 6: ‘Marooned in
Jacmel’), products (i.e.: Barbancourt rum) or people (i.e.
Enoch, the tourist guide), etc. All those explain why Thomson’s
travel writing can be compared to an allegory of the tourism
sector in Haiti.
This travel writing can also be used as a marketing tool by the
DMO to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the
destination. In term of image Haiti has a huge deficit that needs
to be addressed. It is therefore very important for Haiti to take
ownership or control of its image via a marketing strategy, as a
strategic management approach for dealing with tourism crises
is the key to speedy recovery
(Hai & Chick, 2011)

23. International Conference on
Literature and Tourism
Faculdade de Letras Da Universidade De
Lisboa
26-27 November 2012 Dr Hugues SERAPHIN
PhD PGCE MA
BONJOUR BLANC, A Lecturer in Event Management
and Marketing
JOURNEY THROUGH HAITI (The University of Winchester)
AN ALLEGORY OF THE
Associate researcher
TOURISM INDUSTRY IN HAITI CREDDI-LEAD 2438 Guyane
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
ANY QUESTION? Hugues.seraphin@winchester.ac.uk