A new start for tourism institutions … and optimism about the reflection of political and security stability on the sector

Tourism institutions began to shake off the dust of war and the successive economic crises that passed on Lebanon, and are preparing to receive the coming seasons with optimism with the new stage that the country entered after the election of a president of the republic and the formation of a government.

Caroline Akoum wrote in “Al -Sharq Al -Awsat”: As in the center of Beirut, as well as in most of the main cities in Lebanon, the movement began to appear clearly, as dozens of hotels began with a rehabilitation workshop in preparation for receiving Arab and foreign tourists, while it is expected to reopen more than 150 A tourism institution, especially from cafes and restaurants, with the beginning of the summer, according to what the captain of restaurants and cafes in Lebanon says, Antoine Al -Rami, who shows In optimism about achieving stability in the coming period, which would reflect positively on all sectors in Lebanon, especially tourism ones.

Al -Rami notes that the restaurants and cafes sector was able to stand up and overcome crises, and today he relies on the stability that Lebanon is witnessing to reflect the confidence of the tourist and the investor alike, hoping that the Ministry of Tourism in the new government will work on reforms, specifically “tourism legislation that keeps pace with new institutions and protects institutions Legitimacy. ”

This optimism comes after great losses to the tourism sector in Lebanon, and it is estimated at 50 percent in 2024, compared to 2023, which constituted a renaissance, albeit limited, compared to the previous four years, so that the tourist income in 2023 amounted In 2024, according to Al -Rami, knowing that the losses of the Israeli war on all sectors in Lebanon were estimated at more than 10 billion US dollars.

The first results of this political stability will be, according to Al -Rami, with the beginning of the blessed month of Ramadan, as restaurants and cafes prepare to open their doors, and then on Eid Al -Fitr and the glorious Easter.

The number of expatriates to Lebanon in 2023 reached nearly one and a half million, so that the Rafic Hariri International Airport numbers showed the arrival of one million and 300 thousand expatriates between the months of June, Tuz and August, while the percentage of reservations in hotels ranged between 80 and 100 % in these months, This reflected positively on other tourist sectors, most notably restaurants, cafes and car rental companies In 2024, especially in the last chapter, with the expansion of the Israeli war, which led to the departure of expatriates during the days of Lebanon, and then stop the flights of all foreign and Arab airlines.