According to CaribJournal:
It’s one of the logical next steps as Haiti looks to reposition itself as a major Caribbean tourism destination: attracting spring breakers. A new partnership between US-based BrandHaiti and Haiti’s Wahoo Bay Beach Resort will bring a group of students to Haiti in March for week-long spring break vacations. BrandHaiti is a student-led non-profit business marketing organization that “re-brands Haiti’s negative image through highlighting the country’s strengths and comparative advantages” to foster pro-Haitian business investment, according to its Web site.
“It’s recreating a positive image [of Haiti], not the one that there is now,” said Stephane Fouche, a junior at Harvard College who is organizing the BrandHaiti Spring Break Team. “Tourism is something we see as a possible way to take the full potential of that,” he said.
BrandHaiti was created in 2010 with support from the Institute of Global Leadership at Tufts University, and has chapters at a number of US colleges, including Harvard and Cornell. But unlike programmes like Alternative Spring Break, the programme is not about coming to Haiti solely for community service or voluntourism — it’s about actually spending a vacation in the country akin to those in traditional spring break destinations like the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic — from excursions to Jacmel and Port-au-Prince to poolside time at Wahoo Bay, which is located in Cotes-des-Arcadins.
“This project we have is to create sustainable spring break trip to Haiti,” Fouche said. “It’s to give another image of Haiti, that it’s not just a place to do community service — you can also go there and have fun.”
According to marketing materials, the packages will run around $1,000, including airfare, for the week, although that number could be pushed down to $800 as more students sign up. Also on tap will be additional options of trips to sites like Saut d’eau and Kay Piat.
But the goal is about more than just travel, Fouche said.
“The spring break is mainly tourism, but also at the same time it’s about investment,” he said. “It’s showing people that it’s a place where people can invest.”
Their initiative is the latest push to bring more North American tourists to the country, following the announcement last week that Canadian tour company Transat would be offering travel packages to Haiti.
“As you can see right now, hotels are getting built, Transat is offering packages,” he said. “We see it’s a niche that we can start investing in ourselves and in the future it will be something even bigger.”
![Three of the Haitian music industry’s most recognizable names did not roll on Eastern Parkway for this year’s West Indian American Day Parade. The West Indian American Day Carnival Association says T-Vice, Tony Mix and SakPase Nation were barred because they failed to meet carnival rules. The bands tell a different story. T-Vice says it was not refused and chose to stay off the route. Tony Mix publicly announced he would not take part.
The annual parade stepped off Monday, Sept. 7, along Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway. Days earlier, The Haitian Times reported that WIADCA had kept the three groups off the official lineup. As of that Thursday, five other Haitian groups had been approved to participate. Haitian flags, mas and music were still on the Parkway. The missing piece was the big konpa trucks that usually stop traffic.
Cecile Ford is WIADCA’s board secretary and chair of the Mas Committee. She said organizers had warned the groups that the rules would be enforced.
“We’ve tried to work with them and each year there was a promise… they just take it as a joke,” Ford said. Ford later pointed to overcrowding on trucks as a safety problem.“We have pictures & photos [they] were not compliant with the number of people they have on their trucks, which is a security issue & safety issue,” she said.
WIADCA’s written rules state only bands with a WIADCA permit can enter the parade. Participants must be costumed. Artist trucks, advertising trucks and “T-shirt bands” are excluded. Band leaders are required to put marshals on the route, keep vehicles insured and stay within height and safety limits set with police and the city. Failure to comply can mean removal from the parade.
T-Vice answered Ford by name. The band said it was not refused. T-Vice said the Parkway absence was its own choice, while the carnival association said the group was barred. Tony Mix also spoke with an official announcement circulated that he would not take part in the 2026 Labor Day carnival. SakPase Nation did not respond.
Haitian mas and music was still on the route, including Lespri Ayiti and RAM among groups carrying the Haitian presence.
#lunionsuite #haitianamerican](https://www.lunionsuite.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/809209156_18633930094023307_3630959692441275516_n-512x640.jpg)
![Three of the Haitian music industry’s most recognizable names did not roll on Eastern Parkway for this year’s West Indian American Day Parade. The West Indian American Day Carnival Association says T-Vice, Tony Mix and SakPase Nation were barred because they failed to meet carnival rules. The bands tell a different story. T-Vice says it was not refused and chose to stay off the route. Tony Mix publicly announced he would not take part.
The annual parade stepped off Monday, Sept. 7, along Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway. Days earlier, The Haitian Times reported that WIADCA had kept the three groups off the official lineup. As of that Thursday, five other Haitian groups had been approved to participate. Haitian flags, mas and music were still on the Parkway. The missing piece was the big konpa trucks that usually stop traffic.
Cecile Ford is WIADCA’s board secretary and chair of the Mas Committee. She said organizers had warned the groups that the rules would be enforced.
“We’ve tried to work with them and each year there was a promise… they just take it as a joke,” Ford said. Ford later pointed to overcrowding on trucks as a safety problem.“We have pictures & photos [they] were not compliant with the number of people they have on their trucks, which is a security issue & safety issue,” she said.
WIADCA’s written rules state only bands with a WIADCA permit can enter the parade. Participants must be costumed. Artist trucks, advertising trucks and “T-shirt bands” are excluded. Band leaders are required to put marshals on the route, keep vehicles insured and stay within height and safety limits set with police and the city. Failure to comply can mean removal from the parade.
T-Vice answered Ford by name. The band said it was not refused. T-Vice said the Parkway absence was its own choice, while the carnival association said the group was barred. Tony Mix also spoke with an official announcement circulated that he would not take part in the 2026 Labor Day carnival. SakPase Nation did not respond.
Haitian mas and music was still on the route, including Lespri Ayiti and RAM among groups carrying the Haitian presence.
#lunionsuite #haitianamerican](https://scontent-yyz1-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/809209156_18633930094023307_3630959692441275516_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=108&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=18de74&efg=eyJlZmdfdGFnIjoiQ0FST1VTRUxfSVRFTS5iZXN0X2ltYWdlX3VybGdlbi5DMyJ9&_nc_ohc=x34GLS09I-MQ7kNvwFqHCNl&_nc_oc=AdowqDCN9YT1Ab6Xr9C2sg7ga-9vqDxpgpSPQVu_SMkTWY4MV-DSZ2lzrsiKmJkeEI4&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-yyz1-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=MVKLmyxVbtpsHgrX7JOPwg&_nc_tpa=Q5bMBQJGP0RJ0ouQtN1jNYhsLruGYG95hJu2WJK5pK7BzppyxsqYgRepvuLCqmEuqVMEFKR-eZuwbfAd&oh=00_AQJGtJNW3IHHNQbvIkCH4oO1vseMiSbLOJmw-OrIRqFUaA&oe=6AB4389D)
![Three of the Haitian music industry’s most recognizable names did not roll on Eastern Parkway for this year’s West Indian American Day Parade. The West Indian American Day Carnival Association says T-Vice, Tony Mix and SakPase Nation were barred because they failed to meet carnival rules. The bands tell a different story. T-Vice says it was not refused and chose to stay off the route. Tony Mix publicly announced he would not take part.
The annual parade stepped off Monday, Sept. 7, along Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway. Days earlier, The Haitian Times reported that WIADCA had kept the three groups off the official lineup. As of that Thursday, five other Haitian groups had been approved to participate. Haitian flags, mas and music were still on the Parkway. The missing piece was the big konpa trucks that usually stop traffic.
Cecile Ford is WIADCA’s board secretary and chair of the Mas Committee. She said organizers had warned the groups that the rules would be enforced.
“We’ve tried to work with them and each year there was a promise… they just take it as a joke,” Ford said. Ford later pointed to overcrowding on trucks as a safety problem.“We have pictures & photos [they] were not compliant with the number of people they have on their trucks, which is a security issue & safety issue,” she said.
WIADCA’s written rules state only bands with a WIADCA permit can enter the parade. Participants must be costumed. Artist trucks, advertising trucks and “T-shirt bands” are excluded. Band leaders are required to put marshals on the route, keep vehicles insured and stay within height and safety limits set with police and the city. Failure to comply can mean removal from the parade.
T-Vice answered Ford by name. The band said it was not refused. T-Vice said the Parkway absence was its own choice, while the carnival association said the group was barred. Tony Mix also spoke with an official announcement circulated that he would not take part in the 2026 Labor Day carnival. SakPase Nation did not respond.
Haitian mas and music was still on the route, including Lespri Ayiti and RAM among groups carrying the Haitian presence.
#lunionsuite #haitianamerican](https://scontent-yyz1-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/788924694_18633930097023307_3043638025784358712_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=110&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=18de74&efg=eyJlZmdfdGFnIjoiQ0FST1VTRUxfSVRFTS5iZXN0X2ltYWdlX3VybGdlbi5DMyJ9&_nc_ohc=2C7Wl-aKuL0Q7kNvwF0SU-y&_nc_oc=AdqS67UJ5kM67AfhglIGf79iRqaHlSsnp0FyZd7KoG7qEtb5unEgcDoOFORhGwog7BI&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-yyz1-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=MVKLmyxVbtpsHgrX7JOPwg&_nc_tpa=Q5bMBQLLXqJDS3Y0RYltjTAmxGl1rhcj4IIxHhoZMtqbOjtf5-wwgJBdTXD7QNfGaJ6AXzVxquL1vx2h&oh=00_AQJMc5iDIcd_tQAPbNEMW5UjZL-orvd_Hxp7X2dzwLfCfA&oe=6AB42506)
![Three of the Haitian music industry’s most recognizable names did not roll on Eastern Parkway for this year’s West Indian American Day Parade. The West Indian American Day Carnival Association says T-Vice, Tony Mix and SakPase Nation were barred because they failed to meet carnival rules. The bands tell a different story. T-Vice says it was not refused and chose to stay off the route. Tony Mix publicly announced he would not take part.
The annual parade stepped off Monday, Sept. 7, along Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway. Days earlier, The Haitian Times reported that WIADCA had kept the three groups off the official lineup. As of that Thursday, five other Haitian groups had been approved to participate. Haitian flags, mas and music were still on the Parkway. The missing piece was the big konpa trucks that usually stop traffic.
Cecile Ford is WIADCA’s board secretary and chair of the Mas Committee. She said organizers had warned the groups that the rules would be enforced.
“We’ve tried to work with them and each year there was a promise… they just take it as a joke,” Ford said. Ford later pointed to overcrowding on trucks as a safety problem.“We have pictures & photos [they] were not compliant with the number of people they have on their trucks, which is a security issue & safety issue,” she said.
WIADCA’s written rules state only bands with a WIADCA permit can enter the parade. Participants must be costumed. Artist trucks, advertising trucks and “T-shirt bands” are excluded. Band leaders are required to put marshals on the route, keep vehicles insured and stay within height and safety limits set with police and the city. Failure to comply can mean removal from the parade.
T-Vice answered Ford by name. The band said it was not refused. T-Vice said the Parkway absence was its own choice, while the carnival association said the group was barred. Tony Mix also spoke with an official announcement circulated that he would not take part in the 2026 Labor Day carnival. SakPase Nation did not respond.
Haitian mas and music was still on the route, including Lespri Ayiti and RAM among groups carrying the Haitian presence.
#lunionsuite #haitianamerican](https://scontent-yyz1-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/793639979_18633930061023307_6775081790007234048_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=103&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=18de74&efg=eyJlZmdfdGFnIjoiQ0FST1VTRUxfSVRFTS5iZXN0X2ltYWdlX3VybGdlbi5DMyJ9&_nc_ohc=959UMb3qNvsQ7kNvwH6rJK5&_nc_oc=AdoHvjiCVJ4RZCft2Zf1MqTKYnS3MeeZCdOl2uaqrtKnTljvUZTVU0tPPq5vVVaaMfI&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-yyz1-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=MVKLmyxVbtpsHgrX7JOPwg&_nc_tpa=Q5bMBQJyOKIZ7AIaUNF1uhRfCmQjaQCMLDed22wleyR6qeWzKo7cV7Wik2jCG-ATcD5yiRvjbQuRwytZ&oh=00_AQJZjcB0cX7EV8qDVs7HMRtyMT9yEz7MIUsyEyLwnS1PpA&oe=6AB40654)
![Three of the Haitian music industry’s most recognizable names did not roll on Eastern Parkway for this year’s West Indian American Day Parade. The West Indian American Day Carnival Association says T-Vice, Tony Mix and SakPase Nation were barred because they failed to meet carnival rules. The bands tell a different story. T-Vice says it was not refused and chose to stay off the route. Tony Mix publicly announced he would not take part.
The annual parade stepped off Monday, Sept. 7, along Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway. Days earlier, The Haitian Times reported that WIADCA had kept the three groups off the official lineup. As of that Thursday, five other Haitian groups had been approved to participate. Haitian flags, mas and music were still on the Parkway. The missing piece was the big konpa trucks that usually stop traffic.
Cecile Ford is WIADCA’s board secretary and chair of the Mas Committee. She said organizers had warned the groups that the rules would be enforced.
“We’ve tried to work with them and each year there was a promise… they just take it as a joke,” Ford said. Ford later pointed to overcrowding on trucks as a safety problem.“We have pictures & photos [they] were not compliant with the number of people they have on their trucks, which is a security issue & safety issue,” she said.
WIADCA’s written rules state only bands with a WIADCA permit can enter the parade. Participants must be costumed. Artist trucks, advertising trucks and “T-shirt bands” are excluded. Band leaders are required to put marshals on the route, keep vehicles insured and stay within height and safety limits set with police and the city. Failure to comply can mean removal from the parade.
T-Vice answered Ford by name. The band said it was not refused. T-Vice said the Parkway absence was its own choice, while the carnival association said the group was barred. Tony Mix also spoke with an official announcement circulated that he would not take part in the 2026 Labor Day carnival. SakPase Nation did not respond.
Haitian mas and music was still on the route, including Lespri Ayiti and RAM among groups carrying the Haitian presence.
#lunionsuite #haitianamerican](https://scontent-yyz1-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/809209149_18633930070023307_3587221757907574561_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=107&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=18de74&efg=eyJlZmdfdGFnIjoiQ0FST1VTRUxfSVRFTS5iZXN0X2ltYWdlX3VybGdlbi5DMyJ9&_nc_ohc=cDkcXmtXmgUQ7kNvwG7_XWE&_nc_oc=AdqUNRkUmiI2HDlMNYW2RKlBoNeNg1nBz8vDkWeMc4a-QdkiQcmzu3lNwHbR-qzwvNY&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-yyz1-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=MVKLmyxVbtpsHgrX7JOPwg&_nc_tpa=Q5bMBQJkXCACqrm8_uSpePXdJxe0rSu072Tfb89jy7wny56yvyjGtmbwNSxJX74UdpMzrCtiZsgcFGgw&oh=00_AQKbS8Uaod7a1-dLNLNA4a-5iV0pLcdV5FpKSVU7RP-8hg&oe=6AB434BE)
![Three of the Haitian music industry’s most recognizable names did not roll on Eastern Parkway for this year’s West Indian American Day Parade. The West Indian American Day Carnival Association says T-Vice, Tony Mix and SakPase Nation were barred because they failed to meet carnival rules. The bands tell a different story. T-Vice says it was not refused and chose to stay off the route. Tony Mix publicly announced he would not take part.
The annual parade stepped off Monday, Sept. 7, along Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway. Days earlier, The Haitian Times reported that WIADCA had kept the three groups off the official lineup. As of that Thursday, five other Haitian groups had been approved to participate. Haitian flags, mas and music were still on the Parkway. The missing piece was the big konpa trucks that usually stop traffic.
Cecile Ford is WIADCA’s board secretary and chair of the Mas Committee. She said organizers had warned the groups that the rules would be enforced.
“We’ve tried to work with them and each year there was a promise… they just take it as a joke,” Ford said. Ford later pointed to overcrowding on trucks as a safety problem.“We have pictures & photos [they] were not compliant with the number of people they have on their trucks, which is a security issue & safety issue,” she said.
WIADCA’s written rules state only bands with a WIADCA permit can enter the parade. Participants must be costumed. Artist trucks, advertising trucks and “T-shirt bands” are excluded. Band leaders are required to put marshals on the route, keep vehicles insured and stay within height and safety limits set with police and the city. Failure to comply can mean removal from the parade.
T-Vice answered Ford by name. The band said it was not refused. T-Vice said the Parkway absence was its own choice, while the carnival association said the group was barred. Tony Mix also spoke with an official announcement circulated that he would not take part in the 2026 Labor Day carnival. SakPase Nation did not respond.
Haitian mas and music was still on the route, including Lespri Ayiti and RAM among groups carrying the Haitian presence.
#lunionsuite #haitianamerican](https://scontent-yyz1-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/806298814_18633930079023307_5240743489890819950_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=110&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=18de74&efg=eyJlZmdfdGFnIjoiQ0FST1VTRUxfSVRFTS5iZXN0X2ltYWdlX3VybGdlbi5DMyJ9&_nc_ohc=Tu1p_3GnXYcQ7kNvwHCBznE&_nc_oc=AdoGAfypL7XDJNz56JST3QfXiJSWyQ3GRr6VD4WmE5UkMYkQmRxbf7qH83ujiaRfzbQ&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-yyz1-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=MVKLmyxVbtpsHgrX7JOPwg&_nc_tpa=Q5bMBQKc6qgYddRtviFrO6XZs13u9VAgvdsI76uRNr-ZswbQlDHu_R7lwlVpbgm_RBuxaKN57dkssX61&oh=00_AQIMFI_beiNXUeg7NmGUXl_iQyo8RnOSy-Y2Kp9qYIRRiQ&oe=6AB40E39)
![Three of the Haitian music industry’s most recognizable names did not roll on Eastern Parkway for this year’s West Indian American Day Parade. The West Indian American Day Carnival Association says T-Vice, Tony Mix and SakPase Nation were barred because they failed to meet carnival rules. The bands tell a different story. T-Vice says it was not refused and chose to stay off the route. Tony Mix publicly announced he would not take part.
The annual parade stepped off Monday, Sept. 7, along Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway. Days earlier, The Haitian Times reported that WIADCA had kept the three groups off the official lineup. As of that Thursday, five other Haitian groups had been approved to participate. Haitian flags, mas and music were still on the Parkway. The missing piece was the big konpa trucks that usually stop traffic.
Cecile Ford is WIADCA’s board secretary and chair of the Mas Committee. She said organizers had warned the groups that the rules would be enforced.
“We’ve tried to work with them and each year there was a promise… they just take it as a joke,” Ford said. Ford later pointed to overcrowding on trucks as a safety problem.“We have pictures & photos [they] were not compliant with the number of people they have on their trucks, which is a security issue & safety issue,” she said.
WIADCA’s written rules state only bands with a WIADCA permit can enter the parade. Participants must be costumed. Artist trucks, advertising trucks and “T-shirt bands” are excluded. Band leaders are required to put marshals on the route, keep vehicles insured and stay within height and safety limits set with police and the city. Failure to comply can mean removal from the parade.
T-Vice answered Ford by name. The band said it was not refused. T-Vice said the Parkway absence was its own choice, while the carnival association said the group was barred. Tony Mix also spoke with an official announcement circulated that he would not take part in the 2026 Labor Day carnival. SakPase Nation did not respond.
Haitian mas and music was still on the route, including Lespri Ayiti and RAM among groups carrying the Haitian presence.
#lunionsuite #haitianamerican](https://scontent-yyz1-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/806298829_18633930142023307_1624406619840916561_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=107&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=18de74&efg=eyJlZmdfdGFnIjoiQ0FST1VTRUxfSVRFTS5iZXN0X2ltYWdlX3VybGdlbi5DMyJ9&_nc_ohc=DE1aFJcvdYoQ7kNvwGMRE4Y&_nc_oc=AdrbSY8j7ijpV3E193emKk-Sf2zlSBMkLFgVx-mlruFEt57U2WROiBFUjBEcGlb2Jcs&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-yyz1-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=MVKLmyxVbtpsHgrX7JOPwg&_nc_tpa=Q5bMBQLAJUwQSwCKzwi4J9IwgRF0Yy4KUMLkEKJv7FZXd2AW7LWRIvbZkcU0klAx_CQifcYmVty9QiMO&oh=00_AQIzScugqowIVEl6kb4w0wRRXRYwvVsXKc0cJmu2w4cp2A&oe=6AB41032)
