Open a hostel in a very poor country ?

Hi all,

I am seriously thinking about opening a small-med (40 beds) hostel in Port au Prince, Haiti. It can sound surprising, but Haiti actually has loads to offer in terms of tourism and adventure traveling: Caribbean beaches, hikes in the mountains, carnaval, unique culture, vodoo spirit... + very close to the US (full of backpackers!). And at the moment, it's experiencing some kind of tourism momentum: at least 10 travel magazines and blogs put Haiti in their top 15 destinations for 2015. I'd like to capitalize on that...

... But, it's still Haiti and there are lots of problems: bad country image, security reputation, complicated local regulations, burdensome paperwork, high costs from importing most items, uneducated (although cheap) staff, political risk, and even earthquake risk.

Has anyone else had experience opening a hostel in such a poor / difficult country? Haiti's per capita GDP is 800 USD a year. Would you mind telling me a bit your experience, especially considering your actual occupancy rates, and the cost of obtaining all necessary paperwork? Or for other hostel managers, would you mind telling me your opinion on this project?

I should mention that, although I'm foreign, I live and work in Port au Prince and speak the two languages spoken here, in addition to English (and Spanish).

Thank you so much for your feedback! :)