The New York Times - October 11, 1984
Joseph B. Treaster

A handful of hotels that have been aggressively catering to repeat business travelers have managed to operate at an average of about 40 percent capacity for the year, Joel Thebaud, the vice president of the Hotel and Tourist Association, said in an interview in September.

But, he said, most of the 35 or so others are barely surviving, with occupancies averaging 20 to 25 percent. A few hotels, he said, have gone weeks without a guest.

The operators of the three gambling casinos in the capital and the dozen or so elegant restaurants that offer such delicacies as glazed quail and poached Canadian salmon say they have been able to stay in business mainly because of the patronage of the small group of well-to-do Haitian businessmen, professionals and Government officials.

"Look at my dining room, look at my hotel," one hotel and restaurant owner said, gesturing toward rows of empty tables set with fine china and silver. He noted that he had had "one of the worst summer seasons ever."

Mr. Thebaud said he believed Haiti's tourist business was at its lowest ebb in at least 20 years.

Mr. Thebaud, as well as others in the industry and Government officials, say there are a number of reasons for the slump. The most enduring problem, they say, is the poor reputation the country gained under the ruling Duvalier family, even though the 32-year-old President, Jean-Claude Duvalier, son of Francois (Papa Doc) Duvalier, is said to have made some improvements in the lot of the people.

The number of Haitian refugees arriving in Florida in rickety wooden boats has been greatly reduced, but those in the tourist industry say press coverage of the refugees refocused attention on the country's poverty, the most extreme in the Western Hemisphere, and further discouraged tourist visits.

The hotel and restaurant owners say the increasing strength of the dollar has discouraged visitors from Europe, and, in turn, made Europe more attractive to some Americans who might have come here. They also say they believe the introduction of gambling to Atlantic City has hurt business here.

Another blow, they say, has been the worldwide reporting of statements by medical authorities that Haitians consititute one the four groups most susceptible to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS.

Michel-Ange Voltaire, Haiti's director general of tourism, says that based on the number of arrivals at the international airport, tourism is down only about 15 percent this year from 1980. But people who work in the industry say his statistics include Haitians from abroad coming to visit their families and others who should not be counted as tourists. Mr. Thebaud estimates that about 40,000 tourists visited Haiti last year.

So far no one has a plan for rescuing tourism here. Instead, the hotel and restaurant owners and Government tourism officials accuse each other of not doing enough to promote and nurture tourism. Within the industry there is a debate over what kind of tourist the country ought to be pursuing. Traditionally Haiti has attracted somewhat sophisticated tourists from the higher income brackets, but some in the industry feel it is time to make a pitch for the mass market, featuring low-budget packaged tours.

As part of an austerity program imposed by the International Monetary Fund, the Government has cut annual spending on tourist promotion from $1 million in 1980, when Haiti had a peak of 139,000 tourists, to $500,000, according to Mr. Voltaire.

"I think we should be spending more," he said, "but they say we cannot."

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