Events Planning and Festivals

The Citadelle King Henry Christophe (North)
(also known as Citadelle Laferrière)

The main objective of the Tapio‘n’Kan© (the Resource Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Management) web portal is to make the centre’s online and distance tourism and hospitality training resources available. It will also increase knowledge of the centre,

known by its French acronym Le CReDF©, among many more business executives, small- and medium-sized business managers; show-business/entertainment, recreation and sports industry professionals; learners in the corporate and governmental event, conference and meeting planning industry and those in related tourist product and service industries through a e-learning portal, which they can use for research from the best post-secondary institutions, that is, technical and professional colleges, graduate schools in business management and universities. Our expansive international resources offer you post-secondary educational programs, professional and technical training and professional development on an individual basis over the Internet and distance learning in real time.

Copyright © 2013 Claude Saint-Rome
Wharf of Port-de-Paix (Nothwest), Haïti

Le CReDF© personnel have worked and continue to work relentlessly to make tourism management and sustainable community development a priority by providing training opportunities in heritage and cultural tourism, which requires double training, that is, heritage and cultural studies and studies in micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) management, and by presenting learners with a wide range of learning tools, primarily online or in hybrid mode (in person/face-to-face, print, CD, DVD, Internet, computer assisted training/learning/presentation, etc.) in language adapted to each learning level (post-secondary students of all ages, adult professionals, etc.) and entrepreneurs who, young and old, women and men and young professional adults, work in the field of developing cultural products and services, specifically, in festival and conference management.

Although the didactic materials of distance learning are designed so that learners can progress alone, in reality, they are never completely on their own because they can take advantage of the supervision of tutors¹.

Fort Vallière, Môle Saint-Nicolas
Courtesy of ManManPemba, your local guide to Haiti.
Fort Vallière, Môle Saint-Nicolas (Nord-Ouest)

This program in festival and conference management permits students to acquire the required knowledge and skills to manage events from the social perspective of sustainable development and environmental responsibility. Therefore, students familiarize themselves with the components of event organization such as orientation, conception, exploration, planning, production, publicity, promotion and activity evaluation.²

With successful completion of this festival and conference management program, graduates can work in collaboration with the project management team to support local urban and rural communities in the proper organization of customer service, event infrastructure maintenance, logistics, security, restaurant services and accommodations, including quality service delivery, preparing for reception and tourism guiding techniques, conducting promotions using information and communications technology (ICT) tools, preparing Happy Hours for official visitors/VIPs, conference participants and guests to network, socialize and create business relationships with other managers of tourist accommodation managers or entrepreneurs from the private sector in related tourist service and product industries and to coordinate registration and reception, which is done through a friendly meeting during their stay.

Boukan Guinguette
Copyright © Hotel Boukan Guinguette, Haïti

​Local visitors and tourists will be welcomed by staff working at the counter of the reception of customer service in order for benefit from the increase in both the supply and quality of services hospitality through the activities of the management of the welcoming and accommodation (Front Desk and Hospitality Services), thanks to “au flot d’investissement dans le secteur ces dernières années notamment dans l’augmentation à 10 milles du nombre de chambres d’hôtels disponibles”³ [NDLR Translation: the flow of investment in the sector especially in recent years the increase to 10,000 the number of available hotel rooms] by promoting at the same time the implementation of a wide variety of tourism offers for four and five star hotels [Hibiscus], two and three star hotels [Hibiscus] (Hibiscus is the Haitian equivalent of international classification stars), motels, tourist residences, vacation villages, traditional architecture cottages (country houses), B&Bs, youth hostels with reasonable rates for young local and foreign travelers, guesthouses and vacation centres.

Habitation Jouissant
Copyright © Habitation Jouissant, Haïti

When they have finished with their studies, graduates of the festival and conference management program can coordinate and manage event products designed and implemented jointly with the active participation of project initiators or sponsors from the local to international level, granting organizations, local authorities and members of the general public, local tourist authorities, agricultural and food production organizations and fishing industry associations, NGOs, non-profits organizations, the Chambre des métiers et de l’artisanat d’Haïti, Haitian regional Chambres de Commerce, d’Industrie et des Professions, the executives of collective enterprises in the regions, the leaders of local community organizations and local partners on the ground.

EVENT MANAGEMENT AND NEW ICT

EVENT MANAGEMENT AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The festival and conference management program is intrinsically connected with the project management program. Project requirements, or what we could call major deliverables, are used to create the work breakdown structure (WBS), which deals with all the work on the product and project, including project management work⁵. The project manager plays an important role in project completion. All projects must go through a process to make sure that all project activities are carried out and that all parts of the process are achieved [sic]⁶. Work products will have better quality because the festival and conference manager and his or her personnel will be more involved in all quality assurance (QA) process control activities. The delivery of services focusing on work products is oriented on the satisfaction of internal and external clients, respectively, project sponsor/s and festival-goers, official visitors/VIPs, conference participants, guests, local visitors and tourists.

Quality Assurance starts with a good
set of project requirements

In the application of new festival and conference management program curricula in most of the post-secondary institutions here and elsewhere, we have observed the addition of internships with tourism associations, tourism and conference boards, hotels and conference centres, professional and business associations, sports and recreational organizations and public agencies of the host countries in the last phase of the program. Furthermore, students must carry out a real-time project, also known as directed work, at the end of their studies. They will also be monitored and have the help of a coach, applying their knowledge by carrying out their work to prepare themselves for evaluations under the supervision of a project management professional. In fact, a 120-hour event management project and internships will help students to apply the knowledge they have acquired since training began⁷.

When a project is completed, the festival and conference management manager, who is in charge of the particular event project, must rigorously supervise workloads to determine the effort, duration, cost, communication, risk, quality and supplies in his or her work products to create the final deliverable.

In conclusion, work products, including the work of project management, are executed throughout the project lifecycle according to four distinct project management phases: start-up, planning, organization, execution and closure.

A non-exhaustive list of various events includes:

• weddings, festivals, colloquia and international conventions;
• carnivals such as Mardi Gras in February and the flower festival in July in Haiti;
  

  National Carnival around the heritage buildings and fortress of Cap-Haïtien city in the northern region
  10, 11 and 12 February 2013 Cap-Haïtien (North) Haiti – Kanaval 2013 « Se la pou w te la! »
  Crédit Photos Copyright © 2013 Ministère du Tourisme et des Industries Créatives Haïti (MTIC)

• official/VIP visits;
• breakfast seminars on education, culture, the environment, socioeconomic issues, etc.;
• seminars, symposia, conferences and international meetings;
• major sporting events, mega-concerts and benefits;
• charity fundraising campaigns in the workplace;
• cultural and artistic presentations (poetry festival, music and films under the arbour or the stars);
• guided visits of the Parc national historique, which includes monuments to Haiti’s material and intangible heritage: Citadelle Henri Christophe, specifically, the Musée d’Artillerie there, Palais Sans-Souci and Chapelle Sans-Souci near the commune of Milot and the site of the buildings and fortress of Ramiers in the northern region;

• guided visits of the Centre d’interprétation de l’histoire et de l’économie de l’Artibonite [Artibonite history and economy interpretation centre] opened in Palais de la Belle-Rivière, commonly called the “Palais aux 365 portes” [palace of 365 doors], which residents affectionately call “Ka Wa” (king’s house), located near the commune of Petite-Rivière de l’Artibonite in the department of Artibonite;
• guided visits of the interpretation centre at the remains of the residence of Toussaint Louverture, who was governor-general and commander-in-chief of Haiti, an exhibit of panels explaining the life and major moments⁸of Toussaint as the great builder of Haitian independence. Visitors will have the honour of reaching the heights of Ennery in Sancey, the exposition centre with panels and reading tables all around the circumference of the ruins explaining the history and structure of colonial coffee plantations⁹ and other natural sites and tourist attractions of the area such as the cavern at Dufosse and Fort Odige, which Toussaint had built for strategic reasons. The fort is perched on Morne Puilboreau (mòn lan Piboro in Haitian Kreyòl) overlooking the city of Ennery, making that city another tourist destination to explore in the department of Artibonite;
• 

  Copyright © Auberge du Picolet, Cap-Haïtien (Nord)

  guided visits of natural sites and tourist attractions,subaquatic cultural heritage, botanic gardens, caverns, national parks and nature reserves to protect fauna and flora that is rare or unique in the world, for example, the Parc national Macaya (south), the Parc national la Visite Haïti (southeast), the Jardin Botanique des Cayes (south) in the Bergeaud neighbourhood; the Centre d’Interprétation de la Nature in Aquin (south), Le Saut waterfall (central), Saut du Baril (Nippes), etc.;

• guided visits of the Fête de l’eau in Saut-d’Eau/Le Saut waterfall or “Ville Bonheur” (Centre- bas du Plateau central) pilgrimage site receiving several hundreds of Vodou and Catholic pilgrims and a large number of visitors each year, mainly Haitian diaspora and local tourists coming to discover the rites and traditions of Haitian Vodou;
• agricultural festivals, patronal fairs and agri-food product exhibits in the rural areas and tastings of the traditional cuisine of farming areas;
• 

  Fòlibète
  Fort St-Joseph – Fort Liberté (Nord-Est), Haïti

  another part of Haitian cultural heritage is the lakou triangle of Vodou traditions in Badjo, Soukri Danach and Souvenans in Artibonite province, lakou devotees taking you on guided visits of those three highly sacred and traditional places of Haitian Vodou pilgrimage;

• guided visits of the ethno-tourism project, which the Bureau National d’Ethnologie (BNE) and the Ministère du Tourisme et des Industries Créatives Haïti (MTIC) have jointly launched, three traditional massage therapy rooms while introducing the management of very small well-being, spa and healthcare businesses in the lakou triangle of Vodou traditions in Badjo, Soukri  Danach and Souvenans in Artibonite province;
• guided visits of museums, art galleries and theme villages on the Haitian artisanal know-how circuit such as the artists’ village of Noailles in the commune of Croix-des-Bouquets (west), the stone sculpting village of Cormier very close to Léogane (west), all of the city of Jacmel (southeast), the creative village of Milot (north), The Taíno Museum, Route de Labadie, Bande du Nord (north) and the tourist market in the city of Cayes (south);
• fashion shows, arts and fashion creations and accessories;
  

  Fashion show inspired by Taíno Art – Haïti
  Copyright 2013 – Le Nouvelliste Haïti

• theatre arts (choirs, dance, theatre, concerts and banquet);
• theatre supper shows;
  

  Copyright © Cormier Beach Resort, Haiti

• cocktail parties at which guests are dressed in business attire or more relaxed clothing;
• galas at which guests are dressed in formal attire;
• special welcome dinner gala and cultural show at the first UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture: Building a New Partnership in the cities of Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, Cambodia from February 4 to 6, 2015;
• shows, job fairs and agricultural fairs;
• shows and corporate and government events;
• cultural and artisanal exhibits;
• commercial exhibits for export markets: goods and services intended for export and

and much more . . . .

ABOUT TISOH

« The International School of Hospitality (TISOH) was founded in 2005 by professors from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The mission of the school is to offer practical, short-term hospitality training programs developed for industry by industry. Students who satisfactorily complete their course work may be awarded either Certificates or Executive Diplomas depending on the selected track of study. Along with class instruction, most courses include site visits and working externships. The school curriculum includes conference management and event planning, meeting & event catering, event design & production, hospitality leadership and supervision, wedding coordination and design, the art of concierge, art of food and beverage, hotel operations and hospitality human resources. Students may elect to study on site or enroll in TISOH’s online courses. Graduates matriculate to jobs in the Las Vegas area and around the world. The school is an Academic Partner of the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute ». ©Copyright 2014,The International School of Hospitality, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Are you interested in enrolling in great international programs of Event Management & Conferences or Conference Management & Event Planning this upcoming semester?  Click on the links below: