Guerline Emmanuel Shares Why Caribbeans Should Travel to Haiti & Africa
Originally published by South Florida Caribbean News Read the original
NEW YORK, NY – For Guerline Emmanuel, travel has always been about more than visiting a destination. Through Belle Vue Tours, the company she founded with her husband, Hogarth, she has spent the past 17 years creating experiences that connect travelers to Haiti through its history, culture and people. Now, Emmanuel is extending that work beyond Haiti with The Legacy Tour: Three Continents, One Story. This is a journey through Africa, Europe and Haiti designed to explore the historical and ancestral connections that bind the Caribbean and the wider African diaspora.
The journey will begin in Africa from July 22 to August 5, 2027, continue to Europe in March and April 2028, and conclude in Haiti in December 2028 and January 2029. Travelers can join the complete journey or participate in individual portions.
The idea for the tour grew from a 2023 Belle Vue Tours project in South Africa commemorating 18 Haitian heroines and heroes recognized on the Wall of Names at Freedom Park. That experience led Emmanuel to recognize that Haiti’s history was part of a much larger story. In fact, it connects Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and the wider diaspora.
“After our South Africa experience, we realized that the story of Haiti was not complete, we had a much bigger mission,” Emmanuel said.
For Caribbean people interested in exploring that larger story, Emmanuel believes The Legacy Tour offers an opportunity to reconnect with history and ancestry in a deeply personal way.
Reconnecting With Our African Roots
Emmanuel is intentional about placing that history in a much broader context. The African journey is not simply about the history of the transatlantic slave trade. It is about encountering the civilizations, cultures and ways of life that existed long before that period.
“The tour is also around the thousand of years of our people having a history, culture and life way before the interruption of the transatlantic slave trade,” Emmanuel said.
Understanding Our Shared History
For Emmanuel, physically encountering these places can create a connection that reading about history alone cannot provide. She has witnessed travelers from Jamaica, Grenada, Belize and the United States recognize their own ancestral connections. This realization occurs while visiting historic sites in Haiti.
“I believe physically experiencing these places creates a connection to history that you simply cannot get from reading about it,” she said.
Traveling With Purpose
Emmanuel sees The Legacy Tour as an opportunity for people to approach travel as a form of learning and cultural engagement. In particular, educators, scholars, cultural workers, heritage leaders, faith leaders, organizers, creatives and storytellers may find value in a journey focused on history, ancestry and preservation.
For Emmanuel, travel can become part of the work of understanding and preserving history rather than simply an escape from everyday life.
Connecting With Others Who Share Your Purpose
The journey also creates an opportunity for Caribbean people from different countries and communities to meet others who share an interest in lineage, culture and history.
Emmanuel hopes the relationships formed along the way will be meaningful. This is because travelers are coming together around a common interest in understanding where they come from and carrying those stories forward. The experience is intended to create connections not only between places and histories, but among people who see cultural preservation as part of their responsibility.
Helping to Shape the Next Narrative
For Emmanuel, perhaps the most important part of the journey is what travelers do with what they learn after they return home.
She believes Caribbean people and the wider diaspora have a responsibility to own their history. They must also ensure that the contributions of their ancestors are not minimized or forgotten.
That philosophy extends through her work with Belle Vue Tours and BVstylez, her lifestyle brand created in part to bring Haitian history into everyday life. Through its Liberators collection, Emmanuel features the names of Haitian women and men who played important roles in the Haitian Revolution and the fight for freedom. This collection turns luggage and other everyday items into reminders of the people whose sacrifices helped shape Haiti’s history. For Emmanuel, the collection is another way of making history visible and encouraging people to learn, remember and carry those stories forward.
“I believe my larger purpose is to take responsibility for my country, honor my ancestors’ legacy, and add to what they left us,” Emmanuel said.
For Caribbean people considering The Legacy Tour, that may ultimately be the journey’s greatest invitation. It calls them to return home with a deeper understanding of where they come from, a greater appreciation of the connections that link the Caribbean to Africa and Haiti, and a renewed commitment to making sure those stories continue to be told.
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