The City of New Orleans is proud to welcome a delegation from the nation of Haiti this week as representatives seek to learn the City’s successes on developing and sustaining cultural tourism while preserving architectural heritage. Representatives also are looking for local partners to develop a plan for the northern Haitian coastal town of Cap Haitian, which will celebrate its 350th anniversary in 2020.

The delegation’s activities include signing a Sister City Agreement with Mayor LaToya Cantrell, as well as meetings with the President of Xavier University, the local Haitian community, and at the Port of New Orleans. The delegation also visited the Preservation Resource Center and the Historic New Orleans Collection, and toured the French Quarter. They also plan to attend Saturday’s Ball Masque, which benefits the Link Stryjewski Foundation. (Donald Link recently visited Haiti.)

Cap Haitian is a coastal colonial city with many similarities to the French Quarter, but is more than three times the size and in need of restoration. Although the city sustained minimal damage following the devastating earthquake in 2010, the country of Haiti continues to rebuild and seek ways to promote economic development while preserving their cultural heritage — a task very familiar to New Orleans and its people.