Americans Tourists in Guadeloupe

While doing some internet research this morning, I came across this review in the NYtimes. The writer compares the Guadeloupe to what it was 15 years ago, noting the major changes that the island has undergone in those ensuing years. Its a very different perspective, one that carries odd assumptions (the writer is astonished not to hear a word of English spoken during his two-week stay - why would he? The island is French), and a bit of misplaced nostalgia (the writer laments the rise of local cuisine at the detriment of classic French cuisine). The review was published 4 1/2 years ago, but it is actually still an accurate depiction of tourism on the island: the inconvenient flight connections, the mad driving. At the end of the article, one is certainly not convinced about choosing Guadeloupe as a vacation destination.

While I can neither claim a long nor profound acquaintance with the Guadeloupe, I certainly saw the substantial barriers to American tourists and wrote about it here and here. So it was no surprise that I also found incredibly negative reviews of the island from American tourists:

"Stay Home, Unless You Speak Fluent French: Walking on the "beach" next to our "resort" turned into a nightmare for us when a local accosted us, asking us if we were American and calling us criminals and generally ranting about all the problems of the world and how American criminals were at the center of them. Honestly my wife and I felt a bit out of place even before this, with all but a few people on the island treating us in a courteous manner. We honestly did our best to communicate and to act politely, and in my opinion did not stand out really compared to any of the mostly French tourist that happened to be around. Stares from the locals were quite disconcerting, and after the beach incident we decided to leave...Apparently American standards of sanitation are very high...All in all from the information we gathered regarding Guadeloupe we learned very little that is current and or timely. The resentment toward Americans is obvious, the populated areas are dirty, and somewhat unseemly. The flora and fauna are absolutely beautiful, and I'm sure that this island is world class as far as its beauty. Too bad the rest of the island is not."

"Go Someplace Else!!!!:
Pros: Beautiful island
Cons: They hate Americans!!!
The Bottom Line: Travel to a more pleasant island where the locals are a bit more friendly."

Both reviews were taken from epinions.com. To be fair, these 2 reviews were the only completely negative reviews out of 9. But, to be fair, the other 7 repeated many of the same complaints. I imagine also that the strong anti-American sentiment was related to the time period (both reviews were written in May 2003, which marked the end of the Iraq invasion and the beginning of the occupation), and that American tourists would find attitudes much altered (read my posts about Barack Obama).

What I can say is that Guadeloupe should never be the destination of choice for (White) tourists seeking to (re)live the good 'ol colonial days. Nor should it ever be for those simply looking for Caribbean sun and surf served with rum cocktails. There are far better (and cheaper) destinations that meet the (arguably high) expectations of Americans. Those Americans who would venture here should be interested in the life and culture of this island that I try to describe here - the politics, the music, the food, etc. - with, of course, a bit of sun, surf, and rum thrown in.