http://www.hvs.com/ read the Beirut Featured reprt on right...all about the hotel industry

Lebanon Prepares for Summer Tourist Invasion
April 1, 2010
The Media Line Staff

Lebanon (TML) - Lebanon’s tourism industry saw a major rebound in 2009, the World Tourism Organization announced this week.

The tourism monitoring group found inbound tourism to Lebanon in 2009 to have risen by 39 percent over 2008 figures, with 1.8 million tourists entering the 4 million strong country.

“There are more and more [tourists] every month,” Daniel Eid, Manager of the Eid Travel Agency in Lebanon, told The Media Line, adding that he expects the increase in bookings to continue in the coming year.

Lebanese Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud told local newspapers last month that he expects tourism activity in the country to grow by a further 10 to 20 percent in 2010.

Professor Marcus Marktanner at the American University of Beirut said Lebanon’s incoming tourism brought money both directly and indirectly into the economy.

“By some estimates, tourism will bring 4 to 5 billion dollars directly into the economy, make up 13 percent of Gross Domestic Production [GDP] and another 7 to 8 billion [dollars] indirectly,” he told The Media Line.

Many of Lebanon’s incoming tourist come from the 14 million Lebanese who have left the country at various points throughout its violent history.

Analysts warn, however, that the influx of tourists may be a double-edged sword for Lebanon.

“The situation is similar to an oil boom,” Marktanner said. “Tourism makes Lebanon a rent economy. What most tourists find attractive about Lebanon does not require any major investment. It is mostly sun and fun tourism, with very little sustainable spillover effects. During the summer months, tourism drives up prices and clogs up roads, which is a burden shared by all Lebanese.”

“The positive spillover effects, however, are highly concentrated,” he said. “They go mostly to hotels, restaurants and shops in and around Beirut.”

“Most Lebanese would probably appreciate if the rise in tourism would at least also bring about some investment into the improvement of public infrastructure, like better roads, electricity supply, and telecommunication services,” he continued. “This would not only increase the fun for tourists but also the one of the Lebanese.”

Tourism has long been a critical component of Lebanon’s economy, as the country lacks natural resources and years of civil war have hampered the establishment of a significant manufacturing industry.

Prior to the Lebanese civil war, which ravaged the country from 1975 to 1990, Lebanon was referred to as the ‘Switzerland of the Middle East’ and the capital Beirut known as ‘the Blue City’ for its architecture.

Lebanon’s tourism industry started to recover following the end of the civil war but was hit again by a war with Israel in 2006.

The recovery from the 2006 took almost two years, and in 2008 the country’s tourism industry began showing signs of recovery.

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/images/logo2010.gif
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7018279008?Lebanon%20Prepares%20for%20Summer%20Tourist%20Invasion#ixzz0jrPIn6d9

^^ i wonder, are the revenues originating from tourism being invested in infrastructure???? how long should we wait for this to occur? or are they being used to balance the deficit??? i mean, are those revenues enough to allow the improvements mentioned in the article to take place??? pufff...i've got many questions related to this...do you guys know if any plan to upgrade the infrastruture is on the works? cause all politicians talk about the need for better roads, alternative trasnportation means, more and cleaner energy, waste management...but nothing seems to change and no projects seem to be starting except for new posh condos in and around beirut...is that enough?

Beirut - like Nice but safer
BY MIKE KALDER FOR FR2DAY.COM APR 8, 2010

http://www.fr2day.com/travel/beirut_like_nice_but_safer

Such an informative article that I thought I should post here (Tourism/Economy)
****

http://www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/pictures/furniture/mainlogo.png

Lebanon and on and on
Apr 20, 2010

Government incentives, the recent political stability and a wealth of natural resources have made Lebanon an increasingly attractive option for hotel investors and operators, reports Joe Mortimer

The recent opening of two luxury hotels in downtown Beirut represents the beginning of a new era for Lebanon’s hospitality industry, which has already risen like a phoenix from the flames of its troubled past.

After the staggering performance figures reported by Beirut’s existing properties in 2008/9, a line-up of new hotels providing some 2000 additional rooms are set to open their doors over the next four years and government incentives are poised to bring new investment pouring into the country.

The signing of the Doha accord on May 21, 2008 marked a turning point for Lebanese stability and, in turn, the tourism industry. Since then, Lebanon’s hospitality industry has easily outperformed regional competitors and indeed every other country on the planet, in terms of year-on-year growth.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Tourism declared 2009 the best year ever for tourist arrivals, with visitor numbers approaching 1.9 million. Official figures show that almost 50% of visitors used hotels and serviced apartments during their stay, which equated to 770,000 hotel stays.

The peace and stability of the country were undoubtedly the catalysts that allowed Lebanon to achieve a large year-on-year occupancy growth of 27.6% in 2009 and a RevPAR increase of 61.6% in the same period, but such substantial growth would never have been possible if it weren’t for the “pent-up demand” for Lebanon as a tourist destination, argues Deloitte and Touche tourism, hospitality and leisure partner Rob O’Hanlon.

“What we saw in 2008 is what we commonly describe as the ‘peace dividend’. As soon as there was tangible evidence of a settlement around the government of Lebanon and stability on the political front, the pent-up demand for visitors to Lebanon was able to commence,” he explains.

“The second factor which is also really important is that from a general Middle East perspective and the Gulf countries in particular, Lebanon was traditionally a favourite destination. The return of peace and stability meant that those folk who would have liked to be able to spend more time in Lebanon were suddenly able to do so again.”

For operators on the ground, the effects of Lebanon’s newfound peace and stability are tangible. According to Rotana president and CEO Selim El Zyr, Rotana’s two existing properties in Beirut — Gefinor Rotana and Hazmieh Rotana — had an average RevPAR growth of 82.9% in 2009.

“The impact [of peace and stability] has had a direct effect on our occupancy and ADR, which increased significantly,” says El Zyr.

“Bookings came in the form of weekend getaways, business meetings, investors seeking local opportunities (especially with the success of the Lebanese banking sector after the worldwide financial crisis), in addition to the boost of the local exhibitions attracting visitors from many countries, which were emerging markets for Lebanon.”

The much anticipated opening of Campbell Gray Hotels’ Le Gray in late 2009, marked the first major injection of new luxury product into the Beirut market for several years and the subsequent opening of the Four Seasons Hotel Beirut in January this year marked the end of a decade-long construction process that was continuously disrupted by a variety of political turmoil, civil unrest and the short but destructive war with Israel during 2006.

“The overall positive atmosphere in Lebanon has given many investors the green light to go ahead with their projects and one of those was the Four Seasons Hotel Beirut,” says general manager Stefan Simkovics.

“We are in the right city at the right time. There is high demand on the city from both the leisure and business travellers, which is great to see.”

The momentum looks set to continue; other hotels under construction in the vicinity of the Four Seasons include the Grand Hyatt Beirut and the Hilton Beirut; Kempinski is set to open two new properties by 2013, one in Beirut and one on Mount Lebanon; Rotana is set to open the Soldiere Arjaan by Rotana in 2012; and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) recently signed an agreement to run a 121-room Staybridge Suites property in Beirut’s Verdun Street.

A handful of, as yet, unbranded properties are also in the pipeline, including the Grand Theatre Boutique Hotel, Boutique Hotel Mina el Hosn, Jiyeh Marina Resort, in the city of Jiyeh, a Royal Hotels & Resorts property, and a hotel in The Landmark; a towering mixed-use development in the heart of Beirut.

Meanwhile, IHG’s Le Vendome is poised for an expansion that will see 34 rooms added by 2012, while boutique hotel The Albergo will receive 22 more rooms by the same year.

Rafik Hariri International Airport also has major expansion plans, increasing its annual capacity from six million passengers to 16 million, catering to growing demand from the Middle East and Europe.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

The redevelopment of Beirut’s downtown area has been led by Lebanese development and investment company Solidere. The company is the driving force behind the Beirut Central District, which contains its own designated hotel district and the Beirut Waterfront Development, which will transform the city’s waterfront into a vibrant boulevard lined with a variety of cafes, restaurants and night spots.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese government is making investing in Lebanon an increasingly attractive option.

The Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL) is taking huge steps to encourage foreign direct investment (FDI) in Beirut, with an incentives scheme aimed at various industries, including tourism. IDAL’s ‘Package Deal Contract’ allows investors to benefit from tax exemptions, reductions on permits for foreign labour and construction permits, and a number of other exemptions, provided they meet certain criteria (see box below).

MIND THE GAP

It’s easy to see why investors and hotel management companies have been eager to get a slice of the upmarket action, but there remains a huge opportunity in the mid-range and limited service sectors.

”As the country continues to stabilise and mature, government investment coupled with that of key Middle East based airlines and the emergence of regional low cost carriers, will make travel more accessible and affordable and will drive visitor numbers up,” says Rani Gharbie, director of development, Middle East and Africa, IHG.

“With these strong trends set to continue, Lebanon can look at providing more affordable accommodation for a diversified demand base.”

Wyndham Hotel Group vice president development, Middle East and Africa, Bani Haddad, is confident in opportunities available for operators looking at different market sectors.

“Upscale hotels dominate the current inventory, especially in Beirut, and the limited service hotels are all unbranded properties,” he states.

“This creates a big opportunity for hotel chains to introduce their limited service and economy brands.”

But developers with ambitions outside of Beirut still face challenges. The lack of tourism infrastructure outside the capital makes travelling around the country difficult and a lack of services means that visitors, Arab nationals in particular, are more likely to stay in Beirut, argues HVS Dubai managing director Hala Matar Choufany.

“Predominantly inbound travel today comes from Arab countries and the Arabs don’t really travel outside of Beirut and a few areas outside of Beirut,” she explains.

The InterContinental Mzaar Resort is currently the only internationally-branded hotel in Lebanon’s ski resort area Faraya. According to IHG’s Gharbie, managing a property outside of Beirut has pros and cons: “The destination allows people to disconnect from the hustle and bustle of a busy city like Beirut and attracts weekenders, honeymooners, business meetings and leisure groups,” he explains.

But operators eager to move into secondary locations outside of Beirut might be jumping the gun.

According to the latest report from HVS’s Dubai office, Beirut and Beyond – An Unparalleled Insight, the number of branded hotel rooms in the greater Beirut area remains woefully inadequate for the huge demand increases that are anticipated.

“As operators show keenness to develop hotels in Lebanon, investors and developers should be aware that there are an array of brands being considered for the market,” the report advises.

“Companies typically establish a base in the market with their core brand in Beirut, before considering their other brands and different locations around the country. Nevertheless, due to the appeal of the Lebanese market, operators are now being more flexible.”

OUTLOOK

Investment decisions in Lebanon are fundamentally dictated by political stability, or lack thereof, but taken in the context of the recent global recession, it is not surprising that many investors are more cautious about launching new projects.

But Deloitte’s O’Hanlon is bullish about Lebanon’s future prospects: “The shortage of credit availability globally will impact any investment decision and Lebanon is not immune to that, but as credit markets open up, we will see that nothing breeds success like success,” he argues.

“I think Lebanon has demonstrated that it has a combination of scenery, friendliness , quality of food and quality of service that are attractive to visitors. So long as those fundamentals remain in place it represents a good opportunity in the tourism sector.”

High Heels, Hot Clubs, Ruins Mark Sea-Washed Beirut (Update1)
Share Business ExchangeTwitterFacebook| Email | Print | A A A Commentary by Michael Luongo

March 4 (Bloomberg) -- The smell of the Mediterranean was the first thing to hit me when I landed in Beirut, and it remained a constant presence while I visited the still-war-torn Lebanese capital.

The sea was often on the minds of people I met in the ancient port city, linked for centuries to the tides for food, trade and transport, and it remains the reason many returned after the 1975-90 civil war, or why they never left.

Ayman Zarakit, a native of Beirut now working as a banker in Dubai, came back recently to visit his family in this metropolis of 2 million. He took me out one evening to show me the intense nightlife, a far cry from his adopted city.

“We would go to clubs during the July war,” Zarakit said, referring to the 2006 war with Israel after Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia kidnapped two Israeli soldiers. “You’d hear the missiles while we were in the clubs. We love to party.”

We literally drove over BO18, the city’s most famous nightclub, built into an underground bomb shelter. It sits along the infamous Green Line, marked by a downtown highway dividing the city’s eastern Christian side and Muslim west during the civil war. The parking lot overflows with Mercedes, Porsches and other expensive cars, many with license plates from Persian Gulf states signifying wealthy vacationers.

“The thing about Lebanon is that we were a service country,” Zarakit said. “Education, banking, what Dubai is now, we were in Beirut.”

The city’s prewar past remains an aspiration for the rest of the Middle East, said Fady Abboud, Lebanon’s minister of tourism.

‘It’s the Apres-Ski’

Speaking from a highback leather chair in his expansive, wood-paneled office, Abboud stressed that tourism is more than expensive infrastructure.

“When you come to ski in Lebanon, it’s not just about skiing,” Abboud said. “It’s the apres-ski, the nightlife of the Lebanese. This feeling is unique.”

While acknowledging a perception among many would-be visitors that war still rages, he said Lebanon had nearly 2 million tourists in 2009, almost double 2008. It’s a significant achievement for a country of 4 million where tourism represents 25 percent of the gross national product.

“A lot of people thought after 20 years of civil war, we’re going to get rid of Beirut and the Lebanese once and for all,” Abboud said, “but we proved them wrong.”

Place d’Etoile

The city’s heart is Place d’Etoile, a star-shaped intersection designed by the French to mimic Paris during the post-World War I Mandate period, when Lebanon and Syria were under French control.

The buildings are a rich mix of styles, with Italian, Ottoman and Art Deco detailing. Almost all of them were damaged during the civil war. Recently completed renovations include a number of outdoor restaurants, giving an ambience that is more south of France than Middle East.

The streets culminate at the Art Deco Clock Tower, built in 1933 and a symbol of the city. Once ringed by olive trees, it has only five that survived the war. Their branches shade men with machine guns and French berets at rakish angles. These ubiquitous guardians discomfit tourists, but I felt safer walking here at 4 a.m. than in New York City. Moreover, they didn’t seem overly concerned about terrorists or criminals as they monitored the passing parade. Young Lebanese women with high hair, high heels and skintight pants sauntered by, mixing with veiled women, from no-nonsense nuns to Muslim women who cover their hair yet flirt with their eyes.

‘Cocktail’ of Influences

The street show reflects Beirut after nightfall, with a strong female presence unknown in most Arab cities. It’s what Abboud called “a cocktail” of indigenous and foreign influences that sets it apart from other states in the region.

And some of the Middle East’s recent woes have been a boon, according to Jean Claude Hitti, manager of the Bella Riva Hotel where I stayed.

“Dubai’s crisis has been helpful. People are choosing to come to Beirut on vacation,” Hitti said, adding that 40 percent of his clients are Iraqis, who have marked Beirut as a favorite spot for vacation and business travel.

“They’re coming to establish businesses,” Hitti said. “Iraqis are particularly good at creating tourism businesses,” from buying hotels to opening travel agencies.

They’ll also find a familiar landscape. While my balcony overlooks the storied Mediterranean, I also got to marvel at rubble-strewn lots and looted buildings, still empty since the war ended 20 years ago.

Missile Pockmarks

Such contrasts were everywhere. The Holiday Inn, pockmarked by missile hits, looms over the ritzy Phoenicia Hotel. The two hotels sit amid a forest of construction cranes, many operating for a real-estate company called Greenline. Real green lines are even embedded into the pavement -- speed bumps are brilliantly lit in the color.

The city rebuilds, yet still keeps imploding. Just off the lobby of the Phoenicia is a monument to former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, killed in a massive bombing on Feb. 14, 2005. It’s across the street from the St. George Hotel and Yacht Club, which was destroyed in the early days of the civil war, partially rebuilt, then damaged again in the 2005 blast. Its pool remains open for families to frolic against a backdrop of twisted rebar and flaking concrete.

A few doors down, I came across the handicraft shop Artisans du Liban et d’Orient, its floor carpeted with dried basil leaves, the curious scent beckoning me in. Here I asked Chantal Malouf, an auburn-haired saleswoman, about that day. Her body tightened as she leaned against a wall.

“After the bomb, we closed for two or three months,” she said, flicking her right hand in a dismissive backward waving motion. “Tourism went way back,” dropping sharply to numbers she recalled from years ago. Within the past two years, though, she said there has been a noticeable rebound.

Along the Corniche

My shopping done, I walked along the Corniche Beirut, the seaside promenade where the setting sun silhouetted the families, teenagers and fishermen along the railing. Encapsulating the entire capital, one stretch of the waterfront offered in succession: a crane hovering over a new tower, a renovated mid-century building, a still bombed-out property, a church and steeple, and a mosque minaret.

For 5,000 years, this has always been Beirut: commerce, war, rebuilding and religion. As a full moon rose and illuminated the night sky, the sound of lapping waves grew stronger and the smell of the sea hit me again. I understood why so many natives return.

(Michael Luongo is a travel writer for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

Editors: Jeffrey Burke, Daniel Billy.

To contact the writer of this story: Michael Luongo at mtluongo@aol.com.

Last Updated: March 4, 2010 11:09 EST

PARIS: French holiday group Club Med dropped a cruise to Lebanon on Thursday after angering Jewish groups by banning passengers with Israeli passport stamps since Lebanese authorities would not let them land in the country.

The company had warned that those with Israeli visas or stamps in their passports could not board its boat, the Club Med II, for the Lebanon leg of the cruise since Lebanese authorities would bar them.

That drew a furious reaction from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an organization that campaigns against anti-Semitism, and the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France.

The Wiesenthal Center demanded an apology from Club Med “for the offense to world Jewry of your travel advisory,” the statement read.

It rejected the company’s argument that Lebanon was responsible for the ban. – AFP

Tourism Sector in Lebanon Registered New Record in QI 2010

Tourism activity in Lebanon is heading to a new record this year ifno major political incidents occur. The first quarter of 2010 registered a 32% rise in the number of tourists compared to a year earlier and 103% increase from the same period in 2008, hitting a new high of 393,212 incomers . This result outpaces the World Travel Tourism Council (WTTC) expectation that Lebanon’s travel & tourism sector will probably rank first globally in terms of growth with 11.3% in 2010. BLOMINVEST expects the number of tourists to hit 2.4M in 2010, a 30% growth over 2009. This is primarily linked to the relatively stable political climate in the country that encouraged more investments in the tourism sector. Incomers from the Arab countries continued to constitute the bulk of tourists accounting for 43% of the total. As for European visitors, they grew by 34% from the first quarter of 2009 and captured the second place with a market share of 22.5%, while incomers from Asia which ranked third with a stake of 21% added 42.2% from last year. For the month of March alone, tourists reached 158,411, 28% higher than the same month in 2009, and double the number of tourists who visited the country in 2008.

Lebanese exempted from entry fees to touristic sites
iloubnan.info - March 29, 2010

BEIRUT – Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud issued on Monday a decree, number 111, consisting on exempting the Lebanese from entry fees to any touristic site and the National Museum, starting from May 20, 2010. The decree was issued on the occasion of the National Patrimony Day on May 20, 2010.

This is exciting... I assume all we need to show is our ID card to get a free pass? I swear I'm going everywhere next time I'm down ahhaha

The New York Times does indeed have a love affair with Beirut! Yet another great article (check out the pictures link too):

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/travel/02hours.html

Beirut, number 19 on the "top 29 cities to live in" list

http://ca.askmen.com/specials/2010_top_29/19-beirut.html

Increase in number of tourists in Lebanon
iloubnan.info (http://www.iloubnan.info/en/) - May 14, 2010

BEIRUT- The Ministry of Tourism issued today a statement saying the number of tourists arriving in Lebanon on April 2010 reached 169,411 and thus registered a 23% increase in number of tourists, compared to April 2009.

The statement said the greatest portion of visitors come from Arab countries first, European countries second, and Asia continent third.

LEBANON: TV chef Anthony Bourdain needs 'No Reservations' in Beirut
May 17, 2010 | 9:09 am

Anthony Bourdain, author, television host and the original bad boy of celebrity chefs, is not one to leave business unfinished.

And so four years after he and his crew evacuated Lebanon by boat in the midst of the 2006 war between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah, they have returned to film a new episode, and to confront some painful memories in the process.

"The most urgent reason I’m here is because I have lived with a deep sense of dissatisfaction that I never got to show people how amazing this place is," Bourdain told Babylon & Beyond during a break from shooting his Travel Channel show 'No Reservations' in Beirut.

In person, Bourdain is definitely more chef than celebrity: He is frank, quick and talks about his crew with as much affection as chefs talk about anything. In fact, Bourdain said the only reason it has taken four years to return to Beirut is that he wanted as many of the original crew as possible with him.

"It was something we all went through together," he said.

The 2006 war broke out just days after Bourdain and his team arrived in Beirut, forcing them to move to a hilltop hotel just north of the capital where they watched as parts of the city were flattened by Israeli bombing. Stranded, Bourdain and the crew turned the cameras on themselves as they attempted to cope with their growing sense of frustration and helplessness.

The episode that ended up airing about Bourdain's time in Beirut during the war earned him an Emmy nomination and a devoted fan-base in Lebanon, but Bourdain says it was almost scrapped completely.

"We all shook hands on the beach as we were leaving and swore we would never make a show out of what we’d seen," he explained. "I didn’t feel I had the gravitas to tackle such a serious subject ... I make a snarky show about food and travel."

For many, the lack of ambition is precisely what made the celebrated episode so poignant; as Bourdain is the first to admit, his shows are personal essays, not journalism.

"We don’t do a comprehensive, or even a fair and balanced overview," he said.

The new episode will feature many of the locales Bourdain was unable to film in 2006, in addition to some familiar places and personalities from the original show, including former Time Out Beirut editor Ramsay Short.

"It's been a moving experience," said Short, who is currently based in London and working on a play about the war.

"The last time I saw Anthony, the bombs were being dropped on the airport and it was the beginning of a nightmare, so this has been cathartic in a way."

For Bourdain, shooting in Beirut is about finishing what he started, and doing what he does best -- a snarky show about food and travel.

"If I do a show and people say 'Wow, Beirut, the food looks delicious, what a cool place,' that’s all I can hope for," he said.

– Meris Lutz in Beirut

^^ I cannot believe hes back in Beirut! Hes my absolute favorite TV personality. I cant wait to see the new episode :cheers:

^^ I agree, this is amazing news and something I have been waiting for for a long time! I'm glad he and the network had the courage and desire to return after what happened to them.

Kieran Meeke - 21st May, 2010

Beirut less travelled: The peaceful getaway
After a long civil war Lebanon is quickly re-establishing its reputation as the 'Paris of the Middle East'.

The pastry shop of Rafaat Hallab (www.hallab.com) was my first port of call on the day I returned to Beirut. It has been going some 120 years and claims to have a sweet for every year. Happily, the dessert I found so irresistible on my first visit in 2004 is still on the menu. It’s called halawa esh-mayse and is a rice-flower pancake stuffed with cream.

Of course, I wasn’t there to indulge my sweet tooth. I had to drink wine, too, on a visit to the Ksara vineyard in the Bekaa valley. I could see snow as my bus climbed from the heat of Beirut through a mountain pass before descending into the valley, which lies above 1,000metres. In Beirut, the clubs were buzzing but I was told ‘everyone’ was off skiing.

The road – like every road in Lebanon – was chaotic, with suicidal car drivers overtaking lumbering trucks on blind bends but somehow miraculously conjuring up a third lane.

Army checkpoints casually waved us through, the soldiers huddled into themselves against the cold and boredom. Before Ksara, there was a stop in Baalbek, Heliopolis of ancient times, now a Hezbollah stronghold, attested to by the number of guys trying to sell the party’s T-shirts for $5 – ‘OK, my friend, $3 for you’. Business is slow: maybe no one wants a picture of a hand waving an AK47 on their chests, maybe it was the poor quality, maybe everyone really is off skiing.

Baalbeck is the site of the largest, best preserved temples of the Roman world. The Temple of Jupiter has foundation stones of 800tons, twice the weight of a jumbo jet. How did the Romans move them into place? ‘On rollers. And with thousands of people,’ was the simple answer from the guide.

The Temple of Bacchus, dedicated to the Roman god of wine and built in 150AD, preserves part of its roof, still towering high above us despite the passing of the centuries. It amazed me and I can’t imagine the impact on those unused to our modern towers and edifices.

Back in Beirut, it was time for more partying. I couldn’t connect with the doormen at B018, the hip underground bunker whose sliding roof I was able to peer in through at 2am. The security guys were massive; I’m 6ft 2in but they towered over me, hardly surprising in a city where violence was a way of life for so long. And brute force is useful no doubt for dealing with the rich Arabs from the Emirates, who are flooding into Beirut, fuelling the rebuilding boom but flashing wads of dollars in expectation of jumping every queue. Instead, I had to content myself with dancing salsa till dawn at a bar in Gemmayzé (below), sharing a booth with a trio of beautiful, scantily clad and friendly local girls while a group of Arabs looked on lasciviously, nursing a bottle of whisky. The fun-loving Lebanese locals like the money these Emiratis are bringing in but seem to dislike much else about them.

.Waad Khalifé, my guide at the ancient site of Byblos, was fascinating on the subject of Lebanese identity: ‘Our continent is Asia, not the Middle East. There is no such thing as the Arab world. We are Phoenicians by habit – merchants and travellers – and Arabs by language. Arabic is a language, not a culture, and people get confused between Arabs and Muslims – they are not the same thing. There are 11 religions in Lebanon, all with Arabic as a language.’

Byblos hasn’t changed at all since the last time I was there, except that the ancient Pepe Abed has died. He ran Byblos Fishing Club, once an iconic destination, and the walls are lined with signed photos from JFK, Bardot, Brando and many other celebrities from the Swinging Sixties. Johnny Hallyday, too.

With Abed gone, the restaurant has lost its sparkle but Byblos, claimed as the oldest continually inhabited city in the world, has lost many such characters in its history. He lived the message: ‘Enjoy life while it lasts.’

So it’s back to Beirut to energise with more halawa esh-mayse before searching out another club to swing in until sunrise. But maybe not in Monot Street’s infamous Crystal bar (now renamed Le Palais), where the spotlight still shines on those ordering (Cristal) champagne at $5,000 a pop. Brut force indeed.

Kieran flew with BMI (flybmi.com) and stayed at the Riviera Hotel (www.rivierahotel.com.lb) and the Four Seasons Hotel (www.fourseasons.com/beirut/).

Riviera Hotel is poised for major refurbishment


Beirut’s much-loved Riviera Hotel is getting a facelift enabling it to offer better-than-ever facilities with the same hospitality and personalised service.

The hotel will undergo a major renovation of the rooms starting in August 2010, that will strengthen its position among Beirut’s leading hotels.

“This Renovation will add to the Riviera Hotel a new touch of elegance and class which will allow the hotel to attract new markets and types of guests, ” said Rita Aprat Faddoul director of sales and marketing. “We will be re-launching our hotel with the new rooms and products among all tour operators, travel agents and corporate clients in the region allowing them to experience our unmatched service, style and comfort.”

Meanwhile the summer season has arrived at the Riviera Beach Lounge.

The famous Beach Lounge with its wide range of pool bars, lounges and international restaurants has once again opened its doors. And now, not only will the pools open during the day but The Island, which was formerly a night lounge, will also open for day entertainment with a spa pool surrounded by a 105-m waterfall.

“We are looking forward to this summer season at Riviera Hotel” said Faddoul. “The beach will be managed and operated by the hotel and the feel and look will be even better than it was.”

DHIAFEE in Arabic simply means “hospitality”, and our aim is to help you to experience the Lebanese hospitality in the heart of the country…

Warm and welcoming low cost accommodations outside Beirut and throughout Lebanon are ready to welcome you…

Many of our cottages are now bookable online. Just select the one you like from the cottages listing pages.

Enjoy your stay!


http://www.dhiafeeprogram.org/en/home.html

______________________________
Its not a bad website... has a lot of small hotels, ecolodges and hostels on it too. A lot cheaper than staying in a hotel that is for sure.

Beirut hotel occupancy rates hit 69 percent in Q1

08 June 2010

BEIRUT: Ernst & Young’s survey of the Middle East hotel sector indicated that the average occupancy rate at hotels in Beirut was 69 percent in the first quarter of 2010, unchanged from the same period last year, as reported by Lebanon This Week, the economic publication of the Byblos Bank Group.

The occupancy rate at Beirut hotels was the 14th highest among 18 markets in the region, and posted the same rank in the first quarter of 2009.

The survey said the average rate per room at Beirut hotels was $249 in the first three months of 2010, ranking the capital’s hotels as the fifth most expensive in the region behind Dubai-Beach, Doha, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait City.

The average rate per room at Beirut hotels increased by 22.7 percent to $249 year-on-year and posted the second highest increase among all markets in the region behind Riyadh.

The average rate per room in Beirut came above the regional average of $198, which declined by 5.7 percent from $210 in the same period of 2009.

Occupancy rates at Beirut hotels were 64 percent in January, 76 percent in February and 68 percent in March 2010, compared to 85 percent in January, 76 percent in February, and 74 percent in March 2009. Beirut hotels had an occupancy rate of 73 percent for all of 2009.

Further, revenues per available room (RevPAR) were $174 in Beirut in the first quarter of 2010, up from $142 in the same period last year, ranking it in fifth place in the region after Dubai-Beach, Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Overall, Beirut’s RevPAR was up 22.4 percent year-on-year, posting the highest rise in the Middle East, and compared to a decline of 5.3 percent across the region. Beirut posted RevPARs of $160 in January, $209 in February and $155 in March 2010.

Dubai-Beach posted the highest average room rate in the region at $358 and the highest REvPAR at $300, while Sharm El Shaikh posted the highest occupancy rate at 87 percent in the first quarter of the year. – The Daily Sta

^^an economic expert on LBC this morning said that this rate is expected to exceed 150% by next month...

Yes,and this will help filling surrounding areas hotels,but i am afraid that will make some tourists decide to spend their vacations nearby,Beirut and Lebanon needs more hotel,LOTS of hotels actually.

YES, but we don't need high end hotels we need medium and low end hotels. There is a shortage of hostels and reasonably priced h
hotels.

YES, but we don't need high end hotels we need medium and low end hotels. There is a shortage of hostels and reasonably priced h
hotels.

that is soooo true...and I still can't believe that nobody is reacting to fill this niche. For example, I often get european friends to Lebanon for a nice holiday. Every single time I look for hotel options, i come up with the same problem...the guys want to spend a maximum average of 100-130 EUR per night. For this amount you can get some very decent 4* accomodation throughout Spain and big parts of Europe. And you also have to consider that the guys usually spend an average of 7 to 10 days in Lebanon, which makes a total amount of 1000 EUR in accomodation, which is not bad at all!...i mean, you can't expect young europeans to flock to Lebanon in their 1000s with only accomodation for 1000 eur. Still, in Lebanon, for this amount you'd only get a Hamra style accomodation with stinky rooms, a dirty moquete, black stains on the bathtub and a 1980s tv with 8 channels...that makes no sense. There are hardly no options in Ashrafieh, Hamra or the Corniche, which are the areas where tourists would choose...and the existing hotels within that price range need to undergo full renovation urgently...we need new 3 and 4 star hotels at reasonable prices cause otherwise Lebanon will only be able to attract wealthy arabs...and well all know we are way too ambitious to settle for that...

The problem is the price of land. I think the big answer is renovations and branding of properties

Peire Achkar, the chairman of the union of tourism associations, said to MTV today that for the first time ever the government allocated in its budget a sum of money which will be soley dedicated to promoting tourism in lebanon abroad, the sum of money is about 15 million USD....

Tourists Reach 732,855 up to May 2010

Throughout the preliminary months of 2010, Lebanon’s tourism has experienced substantial growth from the previous year. The number of tourists rose from 569,724 for the months of January through May in 2009 to 732,855 in 2010 indicating a year-on-year increase of 28.63%. With increased media coverage, Lebanon is gaining global attention as a top tourist destination with a possibility of attaining best performer status on a worldwide scale. This expansion can be attributed mainly to geopolitical constancy despite instability in the surrounding region. This up-trend is likely to persist as we are nearing the peak season for travel. Despite waning global growth prospects since the outburst of the European sovereign debt crisis these past few months, the influx is gaining momentum as shown by the increase in the arrivals to departures ratio: 220,636 arrivals in May to 195,909 departures, a hefty 12.6% (jumping from 1.7% the prior month). This is indicative of a high turnover of tourists staying for the season as more people are flowing in than out. Tourists in May 2010 increased by 25.81% to 170,232 as opposed to May 09, albeit the record breaking year indicating that levels could reach new highs. From vacationers arriving, 36% emanate from Arab countries down from 40% in May 2009. 38% came from Jordan and 15.8% from Saudi Arabia. Europeans constituted the second major group with 27% of all visitors. French made up 27% of the group with 12,271 visitors, whilst Germans were second with 6,262 visitors and Britons were a close third with 5,113 visitors. Asians were third with 29,941 visitors of which 18,802 were Iranians. Finally the fourth major cluster of tourists were from America with 22,354: 46% from the United States, 39% from Canada and 6% from Brazil. These results are indicative of the growing diversity flow from all corners of the world.

Abboud wants tourist police to be at airport
By The Daily Star

Wednesday, June 23, 2010


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BEIRUT: Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud threatened on Tuesday to take escalatory measures if the tourism police are not given permission to access Beirut international airport and provide support to tourists when they arrive to Lebanon.

“If we don’t reach any satisfying results in this regard during the few coming days, I will be holding a press conference to announce the problems I have faced since I came to the Tourism Ministry,” he said.

He added that the tourism police are also forbidden to address transportation issues in the airport which should be their duty just like any other country in the world. “Moreover, the ministry is not permitted to redecorate the area located near the airport tarmacs,” he said. “I have been in this ministry for 18 months and there are a lot of issues in this sector that I could not solve yet.”

His remarks came during a conference organized by the international chamber of commerce at Phoenicia Intercontinental Hotel in Beirut to discuss the main challenges facing the tourism sector in Lebanon for the few coming years. The conference also aimed at announcing the launching of the council for the promotion of Lebanon.

Abboud considered the council as a gateway to involve the private sector in the ministry of tourism.

“I personally belong to the private sector and one week of accomplishments in this sector needs a year of work in the public sector to reach the same results,” he said.

He assured that he does not want to transform the council into an entity competing with the Tourism Ministry because this would negatively impact the their collaboration.



Abboud noted that among the problems he faced during the past few months is the failure to establish an office at the airport where tourists can ask and pay for a taxi without having to directly pay the driver. “Prime Minister Saad Hariri approved this decision three months ago but unfortunately it is not implemented yet,” he said.

He noted that the 2010 budget allocated between $15 to $17 million yearly to be spent on the tourism sector which will give a good chance for promoting Lebanon through participating in international exhibition and not only by traditional means.

For his part, Fadi Saab, director general of the international chamber of commerce, said that tourists’ number in 2020 would reach 1.5 billion and the Arab countries would attract 68.5 million tourists with a yearly increase of 7.1 percent.

He added that 345 million tourists will visit the Mediterranean region in 2020 which will make it the most attractive touristic area.

“This region will attract 22 percent of the total world tourism activity,” he said.

Bank Audi Chairman Raymond Audi said that world travel and tourism council expects Lebanon to rank first in 2010 because of the security and political stability prevailing in the country. –The Daily Star

Abboud wants tourist police to be at airport
By The Daily Star

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

For his part, Fadi Saab, director general of the international chamber of commerce, said that tourists’ number in 2020 would reach 1.5 billion and the Arab countries would attract 68.5 million tourists with a yearly increase of 7.1 percent.



Don't they mean 2010, not 2020?

And also, "1.5 billion"?!?!?!? I think they mean million

^^ Projection for 2020 makes sense. The 1.5 billion might mean the cumulative total for visitors over the next 10 years, still I'm shocked! The world population is 6.8 B

Anthony Bourdain at the Movenpick Resort - Beirut, Lebanon

May 18, 2010

Courtesy of Tommy Touffaha

http://1.1.1.3/bmi/farm2.static.flickr.com/1421/4725530091_343a5662f6_b.jpg

^^ I can't see your pictures Hassoun, it's been like for quite sometime but I'm speaking up this time because Bourdain in Beirut is something I wanna see :)

Don't they mean 2010, not 2020?

And also, "1.5 billion"?!?!?!? I think they mean million
There talking worldwide^^

Abboud expects historic tourist season in Lebanon
June 23, 2010 share
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Following his meeting with Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the Grand Serail on Wednesday, Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud said he believes Lebanon is in store for the best tourist season in history.

He added that he expects around 2.2 million tourists in 2010.

-NOW Lebanon

^^ I can't see your pictures Hassoun, it's been like for quite sometime but I'm speaking up this time because Bourdain in Beirut is something I wanna see :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28812307@N07/4725530091/sizes/l/

By YARA BAYOUMY | REUTERS

Published: Jun 25, 2010 22:15 Updated: Jun 25, 2010 22:15

BEIRUT: Two years ago, Lebanon was reeling from a crisis which brought gun battles onto the streets of Beirut, forced its airport to shut, and threatened to pitch the tiny Mediterranean country back into civil war.

Fastforward to 2010: Soaring economic growth, relative calm on its southern border with Israel and a truce between rival politicians have given crisis-ridden Lebanon a window of stability which it is translating into a tourist boom.

Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud said he expects 2.2 million tourists to visit this year, up 25 percent from last year's record, when the sector contributed a quarter of GDP.

Already Arab Gulf tourists fill the capital's five-star hotels, their gas-guzzling Hummers choke Beirut's narrow streets and their Asian staff struggle to carry dozens of shopping bags emblazoned with the names of top international brands.

Beaches brim with bikini-clad, tanned women and come nighttime, clubs host Europe's top DJs who play to audiences of thousands, many of whom are flush with cash from jobs abroad and are happy to spend hundreds of dollars on food, drink and music.

Forty percent of this year's tourist are expected to be Arabs, another 40 percent Europeans and the rest from other parts of the world.

"People are in love with this country," Abboud said in an interview last week. "I'm expecting a very, very good summer. Probably the best in our history."

The ever-present threat of war with Israel, which waged a 34-day conflict against Lebanon's Hezbollah in 2006, does little to dent Abboud's enthusiasm. "Certainly, security is very, very important but even after the war, the day the war finished, people started coming back again," he said.

Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri's government has also pledged to implement reforms, from privatization to slashing debt, and the IMF predicts another year of economic growth of 8 percent.



'Brand Lebanon'

Lebanon's resilience and ability to rebound from crises is what encourages many people to visit and spurs investors to pour millions of dollars in real estate projects, one of the country's biggest money-making sectors.

Just a week after feuding Lebanese leaders sealed a political deal in 2008 to end 18 months of conflict, restaurants had re-opened, hotel bookings soared and tourists replaced gunmen on the streets of Beirut.

Now its skyline is dotted with cranes working to build multi-million dollar skyscrapers and five-star hotels.

The influx of cash is also apparent in lavish schemes. For $250 per person, a crane will lift you and 21 others 50 meters above ground to enjoy dinner while taking in Beirut's sights. Just want to watch the sunset? That'll be $120.

Gordon Campbell Gray, who opened the luxury Le Gray hotel in Beirut's downtown Solidere district late last year, said his occupancy rate was well above 90 percent.

"Since the day we opened, we've been absolutely packed," he told Reuters at an economic conference.

When he decided four years ago to open the hotel "everyone thought I was crazy, but it's really spectacular. It ended up being one of the busiest hotels in our portfolio," he said, adding he was building a beach resort south of Beirut and considering another project in the mountains.

His hotel, with a rooftop swimming pool, a cigar bar and espresso machines in the 87-room, yellow-stoned structure, is attracting first-time visitors from Europe.

Asked why they would still come and pay $400 a night for a deluxe room when Europe is suffering from a financial crisis and falling euro, Gray says:

"Brand Lebanon — the people, the resilience of the Lebanese people ... They have a spirit, unique which I know has come out of their history."



'Growing like mushrooms'

Glitz, glamor and decadent riches aside, Tourism Minister Abboud is quick to point out that he wants to change the image that Lebanon is "the country of only millionaire tourists."

Lebanon boasts spectacular sights where hundreds of dollars need not be spent — including mountain trails, the subterranean lakes and caves at Jeitta grotto and the Roman ruins of Baalbek.

While many restaurants charge top dollar, hundreds of more modest outlets offer Lebanon's famed mezze, or small dishes of salads, dips and raw meat.

"They (restaurants) are growing like mushrooms, by the end of this summer there'll be 8,000," from last year's estimate of 7,000, Abboud said. There are also 10 international music festivals and about 100 local ones, mostly in the open air.

Even renewed tensions after Israel accused Syria of supplying Hezbollah guerrillas with long-range Scud missiles have failed to dent the optimism.

Abboud's peeves at the moment are that Beirut's airport is not a smoke-free zone, weeds grow along the runway, and taxi drivers try to extort exorbitant prices from passengers.

As for a war? The only one Lebanon has been fighting with Israel in recent months is what has come to be known as the "hummous wars" — with each country vying to hold the record for the biggest plate of hummous ever created.

A month ago, Lebanon triumphed with a 10 ton plate of hummous. But as in other recent battles between the two hostile neighbors, an Israeli retaliation cannot be ruled out.

Do any of you know when Bourdain's new episode on Lebanon comes out?

Intercontinental Mzaar Gathers The Press, Launching The Summer Season

Published Yesterday - 09:58 GMT

InterContinental Mzaar Mountain Resort & Spa inaugurates its summer season and gathers more than 50 media representatives along with their families to a sumptuous invitation, in order to share the InterContinental Mzaar Summer Experience.

This day was organized exclusively for the press as a recognition for their loyalty and support to the resort. The event started with a welcome drink in the inviting lobby lounge and Terrace, followed by a press conference covering the resort's upcoming summer promotions.

Walid Kanaan, the new General Manager of the InterContinental Mzaar highlighted the importance of mountain tourism in Lebanon. The focus of his speech was on the main hotel's renovations and the upcoming summer offers with an insight on the new summer kids' activities.

Chucri Nemnoum, the Food & Beverage manager added with the new season's different food promotions: "Khaymet el Hor", local fish promotion, Le Refuge Terrace "All Around the grill" barbecue nights, the Pool side Café Italian-inspired ice cream flavors and the Lobby Bar new outdoor terrace sushi bar.

The press conference was followed by a delightful buffet brunch on the Refuge Terrace; where guests endovered all the food promotions previously pinpointed in the conference.

Parents mingled around the buffet and danced under the live-band tunes, while their young ones enjoyed fun & educational activities on the Terrace and a refreshing swim in the pool.

InterContinental Mzaar team was very glad to welcome the press to this terrific summer happening, proving once again that they are up to their promise to bring the InterContinental Mzaar Experience to life!
© 2010 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

Abboud threatens to expose malpractice at Beirut airport
By The Daily Star
Thursday, July 01, 2010

BEIRUT: Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud is frustrated by the incompetency and inefficiency of public departments.

“Eight months after assuming my responsibilities as tourism minister I can honestly say that what I achieved in one week in the private sector, I was not able to accomplish during my entire work at the ministry,” Abboud told the students of the American University for Science and Technology on Wednesday.

He added that work at a government agency was excruciating and efficiency and productivity was almost nonexistent.

“I took a pledge that I would carry out some reforms at Rafik Hariri International Airport concerning tourism at this place because I want it to be the best airport in the world,” Abboud said.

He threatened to expose all the breaches and violations taking place at this airport.

“As a tourism minister I was not able to either control taxis at the airport or make changes and improvements at the entrance. I was not able to ban smoking in the lobbies of the airport,” the minister said.

Many tourists complain that most taxis at the airport overcharge travelers despite many attempts to organize taxis at the airport over the past few years.

Sources said some influential parties refuse to give up their clout at the airport and reject any effort to make changes.

The minister added that Beirut airport was the gateway for the entire world and for this reason the facility should be able to attract tourists and visitors in the proper manner.

Abboud is one of many ministers who confidentially complain about the gross negligence and inefficiency in public departments.

Abboud also said tourism in Lebanon was valued at $8 billion of the total gross domestic product in the country.

Tourism is seen as the backbone of the economy along with banking and other services.

Meanwhile, Michel Habis, aviser to Abboud, said the volume of tourism projects that are being implemented in Lebanon amount to $3 billion.

Habis, who was representing Abboud during Planet Lebanon 2010, gave a detailed presentation on the investment opportunities in the tourism sector in Lebanon. “Religious tourism in Lebanon provides a lot of investment opportunities through the rehabilitation of tourist spots and the creation of an advanced pilgrimage activity,” he said.

He noted that Batroun was the origin of four saints.

“There are also a lot of old mosques in Tripoli and Sidon in addition to other religious sites,” he said.

Habis underlined the importance of encouraging ecotourism through the investment in organized tours inside Lebanon which constitute only 3 percent of the tourism activity in Lebanon.

“In other countries, ecotourism constitutes 70 percent of the tourism activities.”

He said that Lebanon was in need of advanced centers for conventions in order to activate what is known as MICE (The Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions). “We are also trying to boost the medical tourism sector because Lebanon has the means to become one of the most important medical destinations in the region.” – The Daily Star

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=3&article_id=116575#ixzz0sPpEPGzh

Abboud: Tourism figures up 30 percent
July 1, 2010 share


Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud said the number of visitors to Lebanon has risen 30 percent in the last five months, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Lebanon is doing well and “the security situation is in good shape,” Abboud said, regardless of what “rumors Israel may spread.”

-NOW Lebanon

Medical tourism

19alOez4Y7A

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/international/2010/07/09/mme.a.lebanon.tourism.cnn?iref=allsearch

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/international/2010/07/09/mme.b.lebanon.growth.cnn?iref=allsearch

2 vids

^^ I love our finance minister, she knows what she's talking about and it's time that we get skilled ministers like her and Baroud in the government.

^^I second that.
I enjoyed this CNN segment... they are really starting to like us haha.

Lebanon: Association for the promotion of religious tourism born in Lebanon

The aim is to foster awareness and visits of a patrimony which, not including Beirut, includes 1927 churches and chapels scattered across 929 different places. Open to Christians and Muslims, the association also proposes regular meetings between the rectors of shrines to better accommodate ...

Monday, July 19, 2010
By Asia News

Beirut - In Lebanon, not including Beirut, there are 678 patron saints of villages, 1927 churches and chapels scattered among 929 towns and cities. To raise awareness of these and other equally rich and varied data an Association for the development of pilgrimages and religious tourism has been launched, which held its first meeting in recent days in the hostel of Bethania in Harissa (see photo ).

Chaired by Father Khalil Alwan, rector of the Harissa Shrine, the birth of this new association responds to a vote of the Maronite Patriarchal Synod (2007) which had recommended the establishment to fill the gap in this field.

Open to all, Christians and Muslims, the association should serve as a reference for all authorized institutions, NGOs, unions, associations and companies interested in the development of religious tourism, the economic significance of which escapes no one. The objectives of the new association includes the promotion of pastoral pilgrimages, the organization of regular meetings between the rectors of shrines in order to improve the accommodation of pilgrims. Together with the Ministry of Tourism, tour operators and interested groups, it also intends to develop religious tourism itself, in particular to include Lebanon in the regional tourism map.

The first meeting of the new association was marked with speeches by its Chairman, Father Alwan, Antoine Khoury-Harb, a specialist in the history of the Maronites; Nour Haddad, owner of an agency specialized in religious tourism, Claudia Karam for the Ministry of Tourism ; Fadi Daou, president of Adyan association; Husn Daoud, of the Mariam Darb religious association; Souheil Abou Ghannam, specialist in Druze shrines; Georges Berbers, a specialist in Byzantine architecture and art and Kheireddine Haidar, a specialist of shrines and mausoleums of the Bekaa.

The meeting allowed those present to develop six themes, each of which was the subject of several proposals: brochures, tourist guides, tourism promotion, tourists and pilgrims, shrines and religious tourism routes in Lebanon and the surrounding region. The new association is preparing together with the Ministry of Tourism, a database of the shrines and of Lebanon’s "Mazars" as well as a tour guide.


Source: Asia News

Weekending: Beirut
by Meg Nesterov on Jul 23rd 2010

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.gadling.com/media/2010/07/church-and-mosque-resized.jpg

One of the best things about life as an expat in Turkey is easy access to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, with many previously far-flung destinations only a few hours' flight away. I might not plan a week-long vacation in, say, Kosovo, but if I can be there for Friday happy hour and home Monday morning, why not? My main criteria for choosing weekend trips are easy access, no advance visa required, and access to sights and culture I won't find in Istanbul. Other than that, I pore over the Turkish Airlines timetable like a Stieg Larsson novel, choose a destination, and start planning.

The place: Beirut, Lebanon
All the travel mags have recently hyped Beirut as the "Paris of the Middle East," a title the city has long boasted but only recently regained after the 2006 bombings. Now it's *the* place for nightlife in the Middle East, a hot bed of new construction with luxury hotels opening like the Four Seasons and Le Gray, and a diverse mix of culture (Lebanon has 18 official religions, representing Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and the Islamic Druze sect), where you can often hear church bells and the mosque's call to prayer on the same corner. The downtown district has been beautifully restored, though it lacks a little soul; the Corniche waterfront is pleasant for strolling among Muslim families and locals drinking tea and smoking nargileh pipes; and the university area of Hamra is dotted with cozy pubs and cafes.

Upgrades
-As the summer gets more oppressively hot in Turkey, I find myself in search of a beach and despite the fact that Istanbul is surrounded by water, options are slim and expensive. Beirut offers many options for refreshment in the form of beach clubs (really a glorified pool complex with restaurants), where you can also take in the daytime social scene with young Lebanese chatting each other up in the pool with a cocktail in one hand and a cigarette in the other (smoking is pretty much the national sport of Lebanon, so be warned). If you're not wearing stilettos and a bejeweled, designer bikini that probably shouldn't come into contact with liquid, you're probably under dressed.
-The shopping scene downtown has the usual gang of international brands, but nearby Saifi Village has cool boutiques with local, up-and-coming designers. Even more interesting is the Sunday Souq el Ahad flea market, with everything from live chickens to bootleg DVDs to antique clocks, with nary a souvenir or fanny pack in sight. Try saying that about the Grand Bazaar.
-Expat ease: English is widely spoken and US dollars are used everywhere in addition to Lebanese lira, though getting change in two currencies requires some finely honed math skills. Alcohol is quite readily available and cheaper than in Turkey, with particularly good local wine and laughably cheap duty free prices.

Downgrades
-With all the hotel openings, the cost of accommodation is pretty steep, with few hotels under $200 in high season and a dearth of good budget options. Looking for a hotel with a pool (a must in summer), I ended up at the Riviera Hotel, where the main draw was the attached beach club and quick walk to Hamra, for $165 a night. Beirut could use a chain like Istanbul's House Hotels, which has converted historic buildings in trendy neighborhoods into chic and cheap accommodation.
-As sprawling and inconvenient as Istanbul's public transportation is, Beirut is even worse with a confusing and rundown bus system and taxi cabs which have no meters (tricky to agree to a price in advance when you don't speak Arabic or understand what price you should pay). Service taxis are shared cars most locals use to get around, but they are virtually indistinguishable from private taxis and difficult to navigate, as you have to ask where they are going.
-Beirut has a handful of good museums and good access to day trips, but otherwise your sightseeing can be done in a day or two, which can leave you for more time for people watching at the beach or at a cafe. Contrasted with Istanbul's endless array of palaces, museums, historical sights, and markets, Beirut works best as a stop on a larger trip or as a relaxation and nightlife-centric getaway.

Getting there
Beirut International Airport is served by flights from Europe and the Middle East; budget carriers Air Baltic and Pegasus connect with most of Europe, and bmi flies from 7 cities in the US via London. Most countries get a free 1-month visa on arrival. There's no public transit from the airport; arrange a taxi pickup with your hotel, or try to bargain to around $30 - 40. Along with Syria and a dozen other countries, Lebanon will not allow entry to anyone with an Israeli passport stamp, but you shouldn't have many problems going into Israel with a Lebanese stamp.

Make it a week
Beirut is an exciting, sad, glamorous, and hopeful city, all at the same time and depending on your perspective. It would be worthwhile to extend your trip to explore more of Lebanon or combine with a visit to Syria (also a "go there before it gets discovered" destination but requires you apply for a visa in advance).

http://www.gadling.com/2010/07/23/weekending-beirut/

- Beirut, Lebanon, was the only other key market to report an occupancy increase (+22.6% to 69.3%).

June 2010

Q and A with Anthony Bourdain, back in Beirut
By Nicole Dow -- CNN
July 28, 2010 -- Updated 0101 GMT (0901 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The host of No Reservations takes care of unfinished business in Lebanon's capital and talks organic food and the best kibbeh he's ever had.

(CNN) -- Nicole Dow: During your first visit to Beirut in 2006, the war between Hezbollah and Israel started. It's now been four years. How did you find Beirut on this second trip?

Anthony Bourdain: Fantastic, we did the show that we hoped to do in 2006 - a happy show highlighting the aspects of Beirut that enchanted us the minute we arrived. I was dismayed to see that Hezbollah is more powerful than they were in 2006. If anything, they seem to be the beneficiaries of the conflict. Public opinion-wise, politically, far more influential now than when I was there in 2006.

The Beirut I hoped to find is still there, largely back to the way it was, to a large degree. The food was fantastic. We were treated well everywhere.ND: Did you travel outside of Beirut, to other parts of Lebanon?

Bourdain: We went to Baalbeck [a major city in northeast Lebanon, famous for its Roman ruins], and made a few stops along the way. As much as I loved the ruins, some of the food along the way was almost as awesome.

ND: Where did you go? What did you eat?

Bourdain: First order of business, we went back to Le Chef. We made a point of going back with the exact same camera crew and producer, who were stuck with me in 2006. And we met with largely the same people, even went to the places we didn't get the opportunity to visit last time, and we met with people from the previous episode.

Met with Kamal [Mouzawak], the guy who runs Souk el Tayeb [Beirut's first farmer's market], went to the restaurant that showcases regional produce and specialties[Tawlet]. We had a meal at his [Kamal's] house. Ate seafood along the coast, falafel at a famous place run by two brothers who don't talk to one another [Falafel Sahyoun].

Had sfiha near Baalbeck, went to a vineyard where they make traditional arak [a clear, aniseed flavored alcoholic beverage] and wine. Try to eat around high and low. Had traditional Armenian food at a restaurant in the Armenian district.

[Sfiha are meat pies, and are a specialty of Baalbeck. Sfiha is traditionally made with ground lamb, spices, diced tomatoes and onions, and baked in a brick oven.]

ND: When it comes to Lebanese food, most people think of the commonly known staples like hummus and tabbouleh. What discoveries did you make about Lebanese food on this trip? What surprised you?

Bourdain: I know a great chef in Melbourne Australia, who made me sensational Lebanese food way before I went to Lebanon. I ate decent Lebanese specialties in New York at the little joint around the corner. I had very high expectations, already well aware of how good the food could be. If I was surprised, it was at what Kamal is doing at Souk el Tayeb, bringing cooks from different social, political, and regional, sectors. Always sounds like the beginning of something good. And the degree to which people [in Lebanon] are going organic.

ND: Out of all the specialties you tried, which one(s) do you recommend?

Bourdain: The fresh sfiha was amazing. The butcher ground up the meat in front of you and then bakes it. Delicious. Some people from out in the mountains were making kibbeh like I've never had before, Incredibly fresh, amazing, made a real impression.

ND: What meal did you enjoy most?

Bourdain: A home cooked meal at Kamal's house up the coast: he brought in a number of specialties, it's a blur at this point. It was like the greatest hits of Lebanese classics and regional specialties.

ND: What do you appreciate most about Lebanese cuisine? And how do you think it is different from its Arab and Mediterranean counterparts?

Bourdain: Interesting. There seems to be an abundance, a variety, there's a brightness to the colors, flavors, textures that I haven't seen in other places in the Arab world. Highly sophisticated desserts, I am not a dessert guy, but the desserts are interesting. The attitude as well. Eating in Lebanon is fun.

[in 2006] Pulling out on the landing craft, I was already determined to come back. It was the great unfinished business of the show.

[On Beirut] How vibrant, exciting, a magnet for creative people. Beirut is always better than I expected. The environment, the mentality of Beirutis is far more lively and exciting than one has any right to expect for a place considering what it's been through.

ND: What is it like to have the best food and travel gig on the planet?

Bourdain: (laughs) I also have the best television gig on the planet, operate with total creative freedom, largely free of any interference from the network. It's nice, I'm very grateful for that.

Working in a kitchen 14 hours a day, is a still recent memory, every day I'm reminded of how lucky I am.

No Reservations airs on the Travel Channel on Monday nights at 10 ET

Travel Postcard: 48 hours in Lebanon

By Yara Bayoumy
Reuters
Friday, July 30, 2010; 5:01 AM


BEIRUT (Reuters Life!) - The sparkling Mediterranean beckons as you touch down at Beirut airport. Pulsating lights from nightclubs give the capital a joyous, constant rhythm. Glamorous people drive fancy cars.

That was Lebanon during the free-wheeling 1960s when Marlon Brando and Brigitte Bardot used to stop by at the Saint Georges yacht club.

Lebanon is reliving that glamour in 2010, trying to shed a past marred by civil wars, assassinations and conflict with Israel.

While fears of war with its southern neighbor Israel are always simmering, for now the tiny country is trying to make the most of this window of peace.

Once-warring politicians have put aside their sectarian differences to work together to change the image of Lebanon into one of a country of prosperity and tolerance.

Reuters correspondents with local knowledge help visitors get the most out of a 48-hour visit. Western passport holders can get a visa at the airport, but make sure you don't have any stamps from Israel, still in a formal state of war with Lebanon.

FRIDAY

2 p.m. - Drop your bags and head downtown where the Ottoman-era Grand Serail governmental palace stands regally on a hill top. To get an idea of Lebanon's diverse religious demographics, stop by the St. George Maronite cathedral right next to the blue-domed Mohammed al-Amin mosque. Explore the parking lot-turned-mausoleum in Martyr's Square where assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri is laid to rest. Hariri and 22 others were killed in 2005, sparking four years of political turbulence in Lebanon.

Walk along the boulevards lined with cafes and smoke a narguileh -- a flavored waterpipe -- as you watch locals and tourists flock to designer stores. If you're still feeling energetic, head westwards toward the corniche where you'll see a stark remnant of the 1975-90 civil war, the bombed-out Holiday Inn. Continue on to Hamra and explore its artsy street cafes.

The splendid campus of the American University of Beirut also lies there.

8 p.m. - Lebanese cuisine is one of the country's main attractions. There are hundreds of restaurants to choose from which serve staples such as tabbouleh, hummus and mixed grills. If you're feeling adventurous, try kebbe neyye, a type of minced raw meat, or chicken livers with pomegranate molasses. Abdelwahab, Karam and the Armenian Mayyas are among the favorite venues. If you want to experience a different part of Beirut, head to the southern suburbs, a Hezbollah bastion, and try the as-Saha restaurant, themed around an Arab village.

10 p.m. - Trawl through Gemmayze, a street lined with dozens of bars, and the place of choice for weekend drinking. Bar-hopping is an ideal way to experience the most of what Gemmayze has to offer, from bars with a laid-back ambiance to those oozing modernity. The street has bumper-to-bumper traffic on weekend nights when the glitterati arrive in chic sports cars.

Midnight - No trip to Beirut is complete without partying in Music Hall, an old cinema converted into a cabaret-style venue. Local and international artists perform a wide range of music, from folklore to the Beatles to Abba to hard metal to Beyonce's latest singles. House music plays in between acts and by the end of the night, people are dancing on tables. A nightspot favorite, book a week or two in advance to guarantee a table near the stage.

SATURDAY

10 a.m. - Lebanon occupies a mere 4,000 sq miles, making day trips outside the city fairly easy. Head east and stop at Chtoura, a town in the eastern Bekaa valley. Order a manoucheh, a thick, doughy bread, on which cheese or thyme, a staple herb, and sometimes vegetables are spread. Still hungry? Try Knafe, a sweet made of vermicelli hardened by syrup and filled with cheese. While traditionally a dessert in much of the Middle East, Lebanese also have it, wrapped in bread, as breakfast.

Noon - Next stop by the Ksara vineyards, one of the country's famous local wineries. Ksara boasts a wine of "rare balance of dry fruitiness, of delicacy and coarseness, and of freshness and vigor," according to its website. Though a small producer, Lebanon traces its wine industry roots back 4,000 years when Phoenicians sold wine around the Mediterranean. Have lunch at the restaurant overlooking the vineyards.

3 p.m. - The Roman ruins of Baalbek include the largest Roman temples of Jupiter and Bacchus dating from the first century B.C. The temple of Jupiter's six columns stand a breathtaking 23 meters (75 ft) high. The temple of Bacchus is said to be the most beautifully decorated in the Roman world. One of the mysteries surrounding the ruins are the huge foundation stones that support the temple of Jupiter. Archaeologists have put forward many theories as to how the Romans could have moved such massive stones.

There are several guides who will be happy to take you around the spacious courtyard. Once you've soaked up the sights, be sure to check out souvenir shops which are heavy on Shi'ite paraphernalia, since Baalbek has a sizeable Hezbollah constituency. If you happen to visit in the summer, make sure to catch one of the shows at Baalbek's music festival that takes place among the ruins.

8 p.m. - Back in Beirut, head to Barometre in Hamra, a favorite of leftist intellectuals as well as those who love dancing to Arab tunes. Barometre's mezze, especially its sausage soaked in pomegranate molasses are a staple. Dance till dawn while drinking arak, quintessential aniseed-flavored Lebanese alcoholic drink.

SUNDAY

11 a.m. - Peer into the St. Georges Yacht Club where Hollywood stars used to lounge in the 1960s. Across the road you'll see a statue commemorating the late Hariri as well as a sign pointing to where the suicide bombing happened leaving a huge crater in the ground at the time.

11:30 - Walk upwards toward Casablanca, one of the best restaurants to have brunch in Beirut. The 19th century building allows you to overlook the Mediterranean as you feast on eggs and pancakes, served with seasonal fruits. Their brunch is extremely popular so make sure you book early in the week and ask if you can get a table near the window.

1 p.m. Digest your food by taking a stroll by the corniche until you reach the pigeon rock landmark and have a mint tea at one of the many seaside cafes.

2 p.m. - Head north to Byblos, said to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. The port town has lovely views of the Mediterranean. Have lunch at one of the many seaside restaurants serving the catch of the day. Pepe's Fishing Club is a traditional favorite where photos of celebrities from Frank Sinatra to Jacques Chirac take pride of place -- reminders of Lebanon's heyday.

(Editing by Steve Addison)
© 2010 Reuters

LEBANESE MINISTRY OF TOURISM INKS AGREEMENT WITH BUREAU VERITAS

The Lebanese Minister of Tourism Mr. Fadi Abboud penned an agreement on July 28, 2010 with Bureau Veritas, the international certification agency, to review and reassess the ratings of all hotels, restaurants, resorts, and tourism institutions operating in Lebanon over a period of 5 years. According to the Minister, the agency will be examining said institutions through spot checks and mystery shoppers to monitor the quality of provided services, the adopted safety standards, and other factors affecting the rating. Moreover, the Minister stated that regular control visits and yearly reviews will be applied, and that the new ratings will be based on European and international standards. Said measures, along with the training of the institutions’ staff, aim at improving the tourism sector in Lebanon and enhancing its competitiveness.

^^That is really cool and great to hear!

Another, completely different article.

Minister Sayegh tours social growth centers in Jezzine
iloubnan.info - July 31, 2010

BEIRUT - Minister of Social Affairs, Dr. Salim Sayegh, visited on Saturday various centers for social growth in Lebaa, Safaryeh and Mashmoushe to offer these centers the necessary support .

In Lebaa Minister Sayegh met with MPs Ziad Asswad, Issam Sawaya and Michel Helou. Sayegh talked about the issues of the center for social growth in the area, emphasizing the crucial work carried out in these centers. "We should all work together to help citizens without any exception," he said, "and without any political agenda, especially that the South has given so much for the country."

Afterwards, Sayegh headed to Safaryeh where he visited SOS, a children's village where orphans and underprivileged children are taken care of . The Minister met with the children and their nannies. He conveyed a message of trust that the government was the road that would direct them towards their true goals and ambitions.

Sayegh also had another stop in Mashmoushe, as he visited the convent of Our Lady of Mashmoushe, where he met with Father Bassil Hashim and a number of monks. Sayegh listened to the needs and demands of the keepers of the convent.

From Mashmoushe, Sayegh continued his day of social affairs making his way to Jezzine, visiting another center for social development. "The government takes care of all humanitarian organizations," said the Minister, "specifically those that deal with combating poverty."

Minister Sayegh was then invited to lunch and was expected to continue his tour at 3:30 p.m. to lay the foundation stone to Patriarch Moushee's playground in Jezzine.

Language Tourism! My cousins friend stayed with us in Lebanon two summers ago... she works with the UN. She is originally of Irish origin, so she did the course at AUB (she did the modern standard arabic because her work involves her going around all the middle east). Anyways, she actually speaks fairly well. It was only 3 weeks of learning and she can carry on a conversation pretty well, granted I dont understand half the standard arabic words, and she doesnt understand a good portion of the lebanese ones, but she can speak 3adi with everyone! lol


Beirut hot spot for Arabic-eager students
Universities and Institutes offer variety of intensive courses
By Cynthia O’Hayon and Hana Murr
Special to The Daily Star
Saturday, July 31, 2010


BEIRUT: Traditionally known as the Paris of the Middle East, Beirut has quickly earned another reputation, particularly for students eager to learn Arabic.

Summer intensive programs and regular courses are expanding, attracting more and more people from around the globe. The annual summer influx of Lebanese living in the diaspora is one reason for Beirut’s hot-spot status for Arabic learning; many students are originally Lebanese.

For Serene Hakim, a 21-year-old Lebanese-American from the Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies at the American University of Beirut (AUB), it’s an easy decision.

“I come to Beirut every summer to visit family, so it was just convenient to have the classes here since I’d already be here,” she said.

The AUB summer program has been active for a decade. Students currently attend six hours a day of class for six weeks, coupled with a few hours of homework every night.

“By requiring this intensive effort, the program is able to ensure a tremendous amount of Arabic learning in a very short period of time,” explained Steven Arrigg Koh, 27-year-old American lawyer who happens to be half-Lebanese and half-South Korean.

Aliya Saidi, the director of the program, highlighted the satisfaction of the students, which they express in an evaluation form at the end of the program. It is also highly selective: only students who have started university can apply, and out of 180 applications, 80 were selected based on their grades and their level of Arabic.

At the Lebanese American University (LAU), Dr. Mimi Jeha, the director of the Summer Institute for Intensive Arabic Language and Culture (SINARC) program, said she received nearly 270 applications for 164 spots this year, citing the overall increase in applications over the past few years as behind the decision to expand the program.

Ultimately, she’d like build on the success of the summer and fall SINARC program and would like to create a year-round option for students.

Asked why he chose LAU’s SINARC program, Maurice Jr. Labelle, a Ph.D. candidate from the University of Akron, cited a desire to “appreciate the culture of Lebanon,”

Additionally, because classes are in the mornings, the program’s structure allows him time in the afternoons to conduct research for his dissertation. Students can choose between Lebanese dialect courses or opt for three hours of Modern Standard Arabic a day, with one hour of Lebanese dialect.

Alicia Khalek, a student in Wafa Kays’ Intensive Lebanese Arabic class, said she enjoys the “very interactive” nature of the three-hour class, which involves many practical skills like making reservations at a hotel, or learning a recipe and teaching it to the class in Arabic.

The Universite Saint-Joseph (USJ) also offers an intensive summer program, divided in two sessions, in which students attend class five hours a day over a period of four weeks.

University-based programs are mostly aimed at students, the majority of whom come from the US and are often of Lebanese origin, but they also attract students from Europe and countries as far away as Japan and Korea.

At SINARC, there is no typical summer student: in addition to the traditional base of Americans, children of the Lebanese Diaspora from North and South America are joined by students from Croatia and Norway.

The programs strive to be demanding: at AUB and LAU, students take an Arabic-language pledge, committing themselves to speaking only in Arabic while in class and on field trips.

“If we were to describe this program in just one phrase, it would be ‘very intensive,’” said Bilal Orfali, one of the program coordinators. “The AUB program is both academic and cultural. It is also designed to introduce the students to Lebanese and Arab culture.”

The AUB program includes field trips to tourism sites such as Beiteddine, Jbeil or Harisa, as well as visits to the An-Nahar and As-Safir newspapers.

“The goal is cultural immersion,” said Jeha, from SINARC. “We take them on trips nearly every weekend, so by the end of the program they get to see all of Lebanon.”

Also, students have supplementary options such as a twice-a-week dabkeh class and other cultural immersion activities.

However, these well-structured programs don’t come cheap: They range from $680 at USJ up to $4,000 at AUB, with LAU in the middle at $3,200.

Beirut also offers other options for anyone looking for less-intensive or less-expensive Arabic instruction.

At the Saifi Institute, students can choose between intensive courses (15 hours a week) and regular courses (seven hours a week). ALPS, which is affiliated with the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, offers even more flexible options.

“I like to say that we provide an ‘a la carte menu’ – whenever we have one or two students who have the same needs, we open up a class for them,” said Joelle Giappesi, a Frenchwoman born in Lebanon who decided to teach Arabic “out of love for the language in general.”

ALPS also offers a summer intensive program composed of two sessions of four weeks each; the courses focus on Levantine colloquial Arabic and there are fewer than half-a-dozen students per class.

As proof that these flexible options attract students, Saifi Institute, which opened its doors three years ago, is already expanding, and moving to new premises in Gemmayzeh “to create the best-working atmosphere for our students,” according to the program’s director, Rana Dirani McClenahan.

With prices ranging from around $20 an hour for a private lesson and around $8 to $9 an hour for a small group lesson, these options attract those not looking for an intensive university-based experience.

As Lebanon becomes crowded with tourists during the summer, Arabic instruction is adapting. Talk Beirut, part of BeBeirut, an urban tourism project launched by AUB students to promote Lebanese culture and language, attracts tourists on short-term stays.

They attend a five-hour-long “crash course” to learn the very basics.

According to Maureen Abi Ghanem, the coordinator of the program, these are “how to handle a taxi, order food in a restaurant, a few Arabic greetings” and some words to help speakers express themselves in matters of the heart.

Talk Beirut also offers regular courses, which are flexible and are adapted to the needs of students in a program restricted to colloquial.

“If someone wants to learn classical or Modern Standard Arabic, we just refer them to another school,” added the program’s coordinator.

The French Cultural Center is another option, but offers only colloquial Arabic for four hours a week over three months.

“We consider the student a social actor who evolves in his environment through the different tasks of everyday life, whether it is finding a taxi in the street, ordering at a restaurant or even writing a poem,” says Christophe Chaillot, the director of language courses at the French Cultural Center.

“This is why we focus on the specific vocabulary related to these tasks,” he added.

Consequently, the teaching methods vary substantially among the programs.

Saifi’s staff says teachers enjoy a number of qualifications, rendering them “ready to expect anything, in order to adapt to the students and best answer their needs,” according to McClenahan.

At ALPS, the courses put an emphasis on the present tense and the concepts of masculine and feminine, which students are not usually familiar with.

“We also insist a lot on the alphabet, because if you cannot differentiate between the sounds, you cannot speak properly,” says Giappesi.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the French Cultural Center barely deals with the alphabet, as it mostly aims at enabling the students to accomplish basic everyday tasks.

With the growing numbers of students and others interested in Arabic, the course options in Beirut are becoming more varied, allowing people to find the program and setting that suit them best.

Abboud: Border Clashes Left Tourism Season Intact

Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud denied that last week's clashes between Israeli and Lebanese troops in the southern town Adeisseh have threatened the tourism season.
"Tourism was not impacted by what happened in the Lebanese south … Until now, no cancellations were made," Abboud told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat in remarks published Monday.

"The number of tourists who visited Lebanon in July rose by 25 percent," he said, adding that 90 percent of tourists are Arabs and are aware that Israel continues to issue threats against Lebanon and make attempts to destabilize the country.

The Israeli moves could only impact Western tourists whose numbers reach 6 percent only, Abboud told Asharq al-Awsat.

^^ No cancellations maybe, but people have been (as I have heard from around 50 families so far) is changing their flight back to an earlier date. The airport is getting all mixed up because there isnt the capacity nor the amount of flights available for everyone to change their tickets now

Luxury woos tourists in resurgent Beirut

Mona Alami
Last Updated: August 14. 2010 10:34PM UAE / August 14. 2010 6:34PM GMT


The quest for luxury brands in the ‘Paris of the Middle East’ is evident not only in the streets but hotels as well. Bryan Denton for The National

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb2/Htlebmn/lebluxury.jpg
Beirut // Despite rampant poverty outside Lebanon’s glamorous capital city, the quest for luxury brands, whether genuine or fake, is a way of life here, and Porsche Panameras and Rolls-Royce Phantoms regularly cruise the cobblestone streets of the city’s Central District.


Hardly surprising then that luxury tourism is fast becoming a cornerstone of the country’s economy.

“Lebanon has developed tremendously in terms of the luxury segment in the 2009-2010 period, with the likes of Christian Dior, Hermes and Louis Vuitton setting up shop in Beirut, and Chanel soon to follow,” said Izzat Traboulsi, the general manager of Hugo Boss in the Middle East.

The brand is also no stranger to the trend: its premium Boss Black and Boss Selection stores in Beirut are scheduled to open early next year.

Around town, cranes are popping up, towering over gigantic, under-construction five-star hotels such as the Kempinski and the Hyatt.

Other international hospitality names such as the Hilton, Le Royal and the Landmark have elected Beirut as their next destination, while resident boutique hotels such as Le Vendome and the Albergo are expanding.

“About 7,000 of the 9,000 rooms that will be available in Beirut by 2013 belong to the luxury four and five-star segment,” says Naji Morcos, a partner at Hodema, a hospitality consulting company. In fact, about US$1 billion (Dh3.67bn) has been invested in the luxury hotel industry during the past five years, a significant figure in a country where the GDP was $34bn last year.

Large consortiums made up of heavyweights such as Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the al Khorafi family, which financed the Four Seasons, are pumping money into these high-end projects. “Others are funded by traditional Lebanese hotelier families such as the Saabs, Abchis or Salhas,” Mr Morcos said.

The fact that Lebanon has made a major push to break into the regional fashion scene has contributed to the sector’s growth.

“Lebanon’s luxury fashion sector is today on par with the rest of the Gulf area and only second to Dubai, which remains one of the top four luxury destinations in the world,” Mr Traboulsi said.

Hugo Boss’s growth figures in the country have exceeded regional levels, illustrating the rise in high-end fashion brands.

“They reached 27 per cent in 2008, compared to 22 per cent for the rest of the region, and sales increases witnessed in Lebanon in 2009 were the highest in the region,” Mr Traboulsi said.

Solidere, the property company in charge of rebuilding the heart of Beirut Central District, is bringing more big names to the city.

Besides attracting fashion brands such as Hermes and Jimmy Choo, it is focusing on gourmet restaurants.

“Solidere has earmarked $30 million for these projects,” Mr Morcos said. “After Dubai and London, MoMo is opening in the downtown area, along with Joel Robuchon and Yannick Alleno.”

Contrary to popular belief, the luxury tourism sector is being fuelled by Lebanese consumers.

“This year’s growth rate fell below estimates of 6 per cent, which can be attributed to the fact that many more players have entered the market,” Mr Traboulsi said. “In addition, tourism figures lagged behind initial projections.”

Even so, Lebanon’s prospects will remain high as long as the country maintains a semblance of stability.

Besides luxury stores and restaurants, its revamped downtown area boasts a Phoenician-Persian quarter, a medieval moat, an ancient school dating back to the Mamluk era and scores of ancient mosques and churches.

With such a mix of offerings, luxury tourists have the unique opportunity of pursuing hedonistic pleasures that are also accented with culture and history.



business@thenational.ae

Lebanese hopes for tourism bounty dented

By Abigail Fielding-Smith

Published: August 16 2010 17:41 | Last updated: August 16 2010 17:41

This year’s tourist season in Lebanon has been even more hyped than most. Fadi Abboud, the tourism minister, predicted a 20 per cent increase on last year’s nearly 2m visitors, and pitched this summer as “probably the best in our history”.

True, hotel occupancy rates were up more than 20 per cent in the first six months of this year. Yet anecdotal evidence suggests the summer season – when the bulk of tourism revenue, which is an estimated 25 per cent of Lebanon’s gross domestic product, is generated – may prove disappointing.

Nizar Alouf, a board member of the Hotel Owners Association, says summer bookings have risen only 5-7 per cent, compared to the predicted 15 per cent.

“We have mixed signals, strong in the first half and feeble in the second,” says Elie Namoor from travel agency Rida International. “The number of rooms booked is almost the same [as last year], but this in itself is somehow disappointing as there are more additional incoming flights from Europe and from Arab countries.”

What happened to the best season ever?

“So many things interfered,” says Mr Alouf. He cites the football World Cup, the fact that Ramadan falls mostly during August this year, and the political situation.

The rhetoric from both Israel and Hizbollah, the Lebanese militant group, has grown increasingly bellicose in recent months, and a deadly exchange of fire between Lebanese and Israeli soldiers at the border this month has raised fears.

Internal tensions have also increased as Hizbollah fears a United Nations tribunal may accuse it of assassinating Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister.

“Definitely everyone in the Arab world is listening to every single bit of speech by our politicians,” says Mr Alouf.

The border incident does not appear to have provoked mass cancellations, but all eyes are on Eid al-Fitr, the holiday after Ramadan when Lebanon hopes to recoup revenue from Arab tourists who stayed at home for the month of fasting. Bookings are said to be high but, says Ms Namoor, “it is highly likely that [the political situation] might trigger a negative effect”.

There are other checks on the promised boom that are unrelated to politics.

According to one hotel manager in Bhamdoun, a mountain resort, the main thing deterring visitors is the traffic. Lebanon’s roads are in critical need of development and are increasingly unable to cope with the summer influxes. “The journey from Bhamdoum to Jounieh [a coastal resort] should take 20 minutes, but it takes three hours,” the manager says.

Value for money is another issue. Jad Chaaban, president of the Lebanon Economic Association, says the country has pursued a niche tourism strategy, focused on attracting a relatively small number of visitors, mainly from the Gulf states, who are willing to pay high prices.

This does not mean, however, that they are insensitive to value. The costs of accommodation, food and transport in resort areas are high even for better-off visitors. For example, a standard double room for the Eid holiday in the Four Seasons hotel in downtown Beirut costs $350 a night, excluding taxes and breakfast.

The average Beirut hotel room rate has increased by nearly 16 per cent since last year, more than anywhere else in the region, says Byblos Bank.

“I hear people saying they regret coming here,” says the Bhamdoun hotel manager, whose guests are mainly from the Gulf. “The Lebanese people are trying to steal from them. If I were a Kuwaiti or from the UAE, I would go to Syria or Jordan.”

For Ms Namoor, price inflation partly explains the poor bookings for the second half of the year. “My impression is that the chain of supply readied itself for a record summer by increasing the costs, without perfecting the equation of quality to cost,” she says.

The number of non-Arab visitors is reported by the industry to be growing. However, to turn Beirut into a popular destination for European tourists would require the availability of cheap package deals; at present, these account for a tiny proportion of tourists. Mr Abboud says he is keen to develop such products, but there are significant impediments.

Jean Beyrouthy, head of the Federation of Touristic Syndicates, says that the political situation needs “four to five years to stabilise” before advance block-booking and charter flights become commercially viable, and there would have to be more investment in building hotels and resorts outside Beirut.

As the mixture of languages being spoken on Beirut streets indicate, 2010 is far from a disaster. But there is a sense of missed opportunities.

The sporadic outbursts of tension, congested roads and lack of a co-ordinated development strategy look set to continue. “We are losing things because of the lack of unified vision of where we want the country to go,” says Mr Chaaban.

Do any of you know when Bourdain's new episode on Lebanon comes out?

I believe it will be on Travel Channel this coming Monday (08/23/10) at 9PM (Central).
They are putting the two episodes back to back so that should be interesting to see. Can't wait to see it!!
:banana:

The Number of Tourists Reached 1.32M up to July 2010

The number of tourists arriving to Lebanon maintained its upward trend with the total number of tourists reaching 1.32M up to July 2010, a 22.12% increase compared to 1.08M recorded a year earlier. According to the Ministry of Tourism, Arab tourists continued to account for the bulk of tourists representing 42.27% of the total. Their number reached 560,500 in the first seven months of 2010, a 26.07% rise from 2009 figures. As for incomers from Europe and Asia, their numbers surged 21.83% and 41.75% to 321,935 and 226,416 with a 24.28% and 17.08% share of total tourists. For the month of July alone, the number of tourists reached 684,084, registering a rise of 10% from the same month a year earlier. Worth highlighting that the Lebanese Minister of Toursim, Mr. Fadi Abboud, expected an increase in foreign visitors to Lebanon during el Fitr feast and the period that follows with the number of tourists forecasted to attain 2.2 million by the end of 2010, up by 25% from last year’s record.

Beirut: The French Riviera of the Middle East is thriving once again

By Diana Preston
Last updated at 7:21 PM on 22nd August 2010


Though it was nearly midnight, Beirut's Corniche was brilliant with lights as we flew in across the dark Mediterranean for a three-night break. The ten-minute drive from the airport into the heart of the city confirmed it was a lively place still a long way from sleep.

Stepping on to our hotel balcony overlooking the Corniche next morning, I wondered what I'd see. The answer was joggers. old and young, men and women - some of the latter well covered and wearing headscarves, some in Lycra shorts and cropped tops. Their differing garb was a reminder that Beirut is a truly diverse city where Sunni and Shia Muslims, members of the Druze sect and Maronite Christians and others co-exist.

Breakfast, eaten on a terrace overlooking the sea, was a suitable fusion of croissants and pains au chocolat - a legacy of French rule - and local unleavened bread with thick, golden fig jam and tawny halva topped with pistachios.

With its well-tended palm trees, flowerbeds and elegant waterfront, Beirut might as easily be on the French Riviera as in the Middle East. It's impossible not to be struck by its cosmopolitan sophistication and sheer cheerfulness.

The downtown district is the area that once justified the city's claim to be the Paris of the Middle East. Reduced to a ghost town by the civil war that ended in the early Nineties, today it's an area of graceful arcaded boulevards, shady squares, fashionable apartments and boutiques selling serious bling and killer heels at eye-watering prices.

Archaeological sites are being discovered and restored here as part of the regeneration programme. This isn't surprising, given that Beirut has been inhabited for more than 5,000 years by Canaanites and Phoenicians, greeks and Romans, Mamelukes and ottomans. The result is an intricate and multi-layered legacy.

The remains of Roman baths amid purple jacaranda trees are overlooked by a Capuchin church, while nearby is the 12th Century Al-omari Mosque, whose exquisite interior incorporates Roman columns.

The National Museum helps to make sense of this cultural melee. Its prize exhibits include a 3,000-year-old limestone sarcophagus supported by four crouching lions. The lid bears the earliest known inscription of the 22-letter Phoenician alphabet - the prototype of our own Western alphabet.

The sarcophagus was discovered in a royal necropolis at Byblos, 30 miles north along the coast from Beirut. The merchants of this ancient port - claimed as the world's oldest continually inhabited town - once shipped cedar wood from Lebanon's forests for masts of Roman ships and olive oil to Egypt in return for linen, gold and papyrus. Today, it is a tranquil place with shady streets and a mass of historical remains.

An old fortified tower still guards the harbour, where fishing boats and yachts are overlooked by open-air restaurants where you can eat mezze and sip the excellent local Almaza beer or a glass of arak, the aniseed-flavoured local speciality.

Inscriptions at the ruins at Nahr el Kalb on the road back to Beirut are another pointer to Lebanon as a historical thoroughfare. The earliest, half-hidden among swaying pink hollyhocks, are on a slab erected nearly 3,300 years ago by Pharaoh Rameses II. greeks and Romans - including Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Caracalla - also left inscriptions here. So too did Napoleon III in the 19th Century, and British troops celebrating the capture of Damascus in 1918.

Next day we drove up into the Shouf mountains. Palm trees, oleanders and banana trees soon yielded to umbrella pines and groves of oak and silvery olive trees. At Beiteddine, we halted at the magnificent palace completed in the early 19th Century for an emir with big ambitions and a purse to match, and which is now the Lebanese president's summer residence. open to the public, every year it hosts the Beiteddine festival.

With its richly decorated cedar wood ceilings, rose-covered terraces and bath houses inlaid with pink, black and honey-coloured marble where water still cascades down a marble chute, it's like something out of The Arabian Nights. The presence of a Syrian film crew shooting scenes for a historical drama, complete with helmeted, spear-carrying extras, lent an extra exoticism.

From Beiteddine, the road continued to climb. high on the mountain slopes, which rise to more than 9,000ft, were splashes of dark green - Lebanon's famous cedar forests - and beyond them patches of gleaming snow. Just 20 miles from the Syrian border, we began to descend into the Bekaa Valley, passing Bedouin encampments and herds of bleating goats. I wasn't sure what to expect here in the heartland of hezbollah - but certainly not the adverts for Botox between the political posters that line the road.

The reason for coming was not Botox but Baalbek, a World heritage site named after the Phoenician god Baal. The Romans famously built a temple to Jupiter here, positioning the god so that the rising sun gilded him. Today, only a few columns remain but they are massive enough to conjure the scale and ambition of what was perhaps the largest temple in the Roman empire.

The Romans cultivated vineyards in the chalky soil of the Bekaa and we called in at Chateau Ksara, Lebanon's oldest commercial winery where in 1857 Jesuits began producing red wine. The fathers stored their casks in an astonishing mile-and-a-half-long labyrinth of limestone tunnels originally hollowed out by the Romans, and they can still be explored.

Dusk was descending as we drove back into Beirut. Along the Corniche families were gathering. The joggers were out in force again, dodging children riding bikes. Young couples were smoking scented tobacco through hubble-bubble water pipes. Bedouin women with tattooed foreheads were telling fortunes and vendors were selling hot corn on the cob and fresh fish. Here people eat late, clubs stay open till dawn and the Casino du Liban, famous in the Sixties and the sort of spot where James Bond would have popped up, is very much back in business. It's exhilarating to be in a place famous since antiquity and reborn in our time.

Getting there

The Traveller (020 7436 9343, www.the-traveller.co.uk) offers a three-night Taste Of Beirut trip with return direct flights on BMI (www. flybmi.com), B&B at the Hotel Riviera on the Corniche and two days of guided tours in a private vehicle from £890pp. Diana Preston's novel Raiders From The North, under the pseudonym Alex Rutherford, is published by Headline.

2010 sees more tourists attracted to Batroun's sights and sounds
Visitors say city still lacks cheap accomodation, good transportation


BATROUN: If the neighborhood of Gemmayzeh has become one of the leading nightlife centers in Greater Beirut, the northern city of Batroun has seen a similar boom in recent years, making it one of the “in” places on the country’s tourism and leisure map.

Batroun’s share of the tourism wave of 2010 is relatively low compared to leading locales such as Beiteddine and Baalbek, but Batroun has welcomed over 25,000 tourists this season, which tourism groups say is a significant improvement over last year, a record-setting season for Lebanon.

Batroun and its surrounding areas contain a number of hotels and resorts such as St. Stephano, Sawary, Aqualand and Batroun Village Club, which have luxurious chalets and cabins on the Mediterranean. It has been a “fully booked season,” according to the locals.

Batroun has several aspects that attract tourists from all over the world including Europe, Russia, Japan and the entire Lebanese diaspora. The tourists vary widely in age, and are attracted to both day trips and the nightlife.

Most newcomers manage to visit the main tourist sites such as the Phoenician maritime wall, the old cathedrals of St. Stephen’s and Our Lady of the Sea, while tasting the famous lemonade sold by the majority of the cafés and restaurants on the town’s main street.

For Christa, 23, a tourist from France, Batroun has a very fun and laid-back atmosphere.

“I’ve been coming here for the past three summers with my friends from all over Europe, we don’t let one pass without enjoying this charming town,” Christa said.

“What distinguishes it from other big cities such as Beirut or Jounieh is that you can take advantage of daytime activities, and continue on enjoying the festive night atmosphere.”

The smaller size of Batroun makes it more of a classic beach town. “People here are more easygoing, you can show up at the beach in your shorts and flip flops, spend the days windsurfing, jet skiing or just enjoying the sun, and hit the party immediately after,” she said.


Tourists, whether domestic or foreign, are usually impressed by the fresh and relatively inexpensive seafood available at many restaurants in Batroun restaurants.

“I usually come here every Sunday for lunch,” said visitor Joseph Haddad. “The kids enjoy the beach and we enjoy the food … We’re from Baabda but we like Batroun’s seafood, its straight from the water and the prices are reasonable.”

On the downside, tourists also complained about the lack of available and affordable one-night stays in hotels and hostels.

Hotel rooms are usually fully booked months before the start of the summer season,” said a staff member of the St. Stephano beach and resort. However, visitors consider the rates quite steep for people on a strict budget.


Another inconvenience cited frequently was the difficulty of transportation inside the town, whereas in Beirut taxis and services are abundant.
The country’s infrastructure problems were on display during 2009’s record year of tourism, and this year the common complaint, especially in the north, was water.

Residents of the coastal city have become used to such problems, but for those who are on vacation, worrying about a lack of water puts a dent in the tourist experience.
“We are used to it here. Buying our water isn’t something new, but for those who come to visit … it counts,” said one local.

To ensure their water needs, people purchase a tank of water, which costs LL25,000-LL35,000 ($16-$24), anywhere from one to several times a week, meaning the costs quickly build up for long-term summer visitors.
“I’m fed up with this water thing; sometimes we are surprised by the unavailability of water at a late-night hour,” said Kimbely Khoury, 45, who is visiting Lebanon with her family during the summer season.


Meanwhile, a major boost for the cause of tourism in the city is the annual Batroun International festival, held in August. On Friday, President Michel Sleiman arrived to take in the final performance of a play about Gebran Khalil Gebran.

Joe Youssef, a member of the event’s organizing committee, said the festival was classified as “international” by the Tourism Ministry last year after it met the criteria set down by the ministry.
Committee members are positive and satisfied with the results of this year’s events.

“Considering the budget, the result was fantastic,” Youssef said, adding that last year’s qualification translated into an undisclosed amount of financial aid for this year’s version.

The festival sought the participation of figures such as the famous Brazilian photographer Carlos Freire, who established a workshop along with 25 students from a number of Lebanese universities and generated an exhibition under the theme of “Le Liban que j’aime et que je n’aime pas,” or “The Lebanon I love and don’t love.”

But despite the committee’s efforts to promote tourism in Batroun by authoring a comprehensive plan and securing facilities and services for tourists, such as the recruitment of tour guides and the organization of daytime and nighttime events, the initiatives don’t easily translate into reality.
“There’s always the financial problem,” Youssef said.

Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud said “Batroun is one of the most beautiful cities on the Mediterranean and I will work my best to assist in developing its tourism,” during a visit to the town earlier this summer.

While promises by government officials often leave the public wondering about the follow-through, the Tourism Ministry did open an office in Batroun in May, raising hopes that at the least things are moving in the right direction.


http://www.dailystar.com.lb

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservation - Back to Beirut

xejl5e

i don't know what u guys think...but i just returned home from my summer holiday in lebanon and i have to say i'm pretty disappointed about what i've seen. I know...i know...i'm a pessimist...but i've got this feeling that this summer is not as successful as expected. I've been hanging out in Beirut and the city was half empty during the day and far from being packed at night. For the first time in many summers i've been able to drive at night from Bir hassan to DT through Salim Sleim in less than 5 min...getting to Bliss through Hamra took me another 5 or 6 minutes...to be honest it didin't seem like summer at all. DT was empty during the day and at night cafes were still half empty. I visited The Souks a couple of times, and most shops were absolutelly empty with shopkeepers staring through the glass at every passing visitor...only zara, vero moda and a handful of other outlets seemed to have attracted some customers...the MET did seem quite busy on both occassions but still not packed. A few times I had trouble booking for dinner in some landmark restos in Beirut such as AbdelWahab, Mounir, Mhanna, Phoenicia etc... Basically most serve one single meal in Ramadan, iftar, for lack of customers during lunch time...so that's why most well known lebanese cuisine restos seemed to be almost full during iftar hours. Most people i encountered in Beirut where lebanese locals or emigrants, many speaking french or american, also a bunch of european tourists were spotted, but hardly any arab could be seen, and no maseratis nor lamborghinis overtook me in the streets of Beirut as they usually do. Speaking to some friends and relatives i learnt that most arabs return home for Ramadan. This means that several 100k arab tourists who usually invade Beirut in summer were absent this year. Some hope to have them back after l Eid, but others are not that optimistic. As the previously posted article mentions, prices in Beirut are soaring. Accomodation is soooo expensive and the quality-price ratio makes no sense at all. Roads suck, and you need 1 hour to get to dbayye from beirut...electricity cut outs throughout the city are common, some areas still look like rubbish dumps and the lack of security at the street level is becoming a serious problem. Not to mention, gasoline, clothing and food prices...really, delete my post if you feel like, but i'm really worried that Lebanon seems to be getting stuck in time, or at least living a dream that is not sustainable at all. Horrible concrete buildings are popping up everywhere without control, and the DT is becoming a ghost town with hundreds of super luxurious 2million USD appartments that stay empty throughout most of the year. Also, retail space in the DT is not being traded coz the lack of visitors or inhabitants makes most street businesses unprofitable...just go have a walk and notice the lack of activity...have you guys been to Beirut this summer? What do you feel?

Hmm well they are saying tourism is up 22% in the first 7 months..hotel occupancy was up also...maybe august was slower for the holiday.

^^ I honestly think this is because of Ramadan. All the Arabs left because from what I heard the Ramadan experience in Lebanon is not very nice. It is great for Eid, but not the actual weeks of fasting. I guess this is because Beirut and other touristic cities are not very "Islamic" (i.e. most locals not really observing).

^^ i would recommend cairo for a more ramadan-ish experience (or Saida !!:tongue2:)

but yeah i get what aezzedi is saying.... i've mentioned before on this forum how empty i'm finding beirut lately... but someone always found an explanation (its holiday, people are on the beach...etc.)... bas we can't ignore it anymore.... something wrong is going on !!!

^^ Dont forget people go to the mountains in the summer to avoid the heat.

^^ i would recommend cairo for a more ramadan-ish experience (or Saida !!:tongue2:)

but yeah i get what aezzedi is saying.... i've mentioned before on this forum how empty i'm finding beirut lately... but someone always found an explanation (its holiday, people are on the beach...etc.)... bas we can't ignore it anymore.... something wrong is going on !!!

There is definitely less than last year. I think the gov. is just making up numbers to attract investors and more tourists.

In the airport i was talking to one of the workers, and he said that there was maybe only half as much tourists as last year. He was telling me that last year airlines were adding extra flights which would land during the late night time slots, and this year there were none except the extra one from Paris.

Well in regards to downtown being empty, I think that has always been the case for obvious reasons. Occupancy of downtown apartments is very low. Also I think people are unsettled by these random skirmishes between Israel and lebanon and between the Lebanese in general. I'm not surprised. But it is true that last year during Ramadan there was a significant drop in tourists.

I think all these combined factors make it more noticeable

hmmm..Well its true that most Arab Tourists left before Ramadan (I dont blame them) but this dosent mean there still arent tourists around. Just today I was a bus load of Asian Tourists in front of Hallab (the sweets castle) and a few french tourists

Aezeddi, before Ramadan what you are saying is the extreme opposite. It was chaotically busy from June-August.(I was there) You could go no where in Beirut without getting stuck in at least 50 minutes of traffic, if you would go through the Hamra don't count on arriving before 80-100 minutes.

It is empty for two reasons:

1. All Arab tourists went to the mountains.

2. All expat and a chunk of Lebanese locals went to the mountains.

Everyone is spending the least amount of time in Beirut as they can, and I do not blame them.

The season ended this year when Ramadan started, this is a known fact.

Without a doubt tourism surged this summer.

^^ what mountains man? a few days ago, after arriving at the airport to fly home, it took me around 15 minutes to go through luggage scanning, check-in and and passport control...that is definitly a bad sign! Also, my FRA-BEI flight on 6 august was half empty!!! something i never experienced b4 in my life! About Beirut, the streets were virtually empty of tourists and visitors. Only locals and some emigrants could be seen, plus as abdallah mentioned, a few scattered european or asian tourists here and there...but obviously not enough to fill shops, restaurants, hotels and bars. Lebanon is counting on much more than that. Lebanese cuisine restaurants were quite full for iftar, but again, during lunchtime they were virtually empty. All in all, the situation is not good. That is a fact confirmed by airport workers, shopkeepers, hotel managers and rest owners... but regardless of the current situation, I think it is time to assess the situation as a whole and think of the future. To me, Lebanon is clearly reaching its maximum capacity to attract visitors and placing all its cards on a very risky growth model. Infrastructre is too weak and causes critical problems. For example, the road network is disastrous, causing major daily jams which make it impossible to travel from one neighbourhood to the other in a reasonable time. Waste management policies are chaotic, with rubbish ending up on our beaches and on the sides of streets and roads. Hotels are either too luxurious or too filthy. In fact we lack clean and decent hotel rooms at reasonable prices to attract european tourists. Also, hotel managers are abusing arab tourists, increasing room rates to levels which often seem a joke. For 200 euros you get a room in a 5 star hotel in most european capitals. In Beirut most 5 star hotel rooms start at 350 USD. Of course, there's no need to mention that Beirut is not Paris, nor London, nor Barcelona, nor Rome...

to me guys the whole model is wrong...instead of dreaming of 4 and 5 million tourists, those in charge need to see the bigger picture... our roads can't take half those numbers... we don't have adequate accomodation nor services...competition from other cities is increasing...security is starting to become a nightmare...prices are soaring...real shit...

Arabs didn't leave because of Ramadan, because there weren't any before Ramadan, even in the mountains.

And I was disappointed by Leb this summer too.. And I'm finding it insulting for Paris and Switzerland to be compared to Lebanon.

Listen unless I am a dumb blind idiot you guys are wrong. Until July 30ish Beirut, and furthermore jabal Libnan was like I depicted, I was there from May-August and stayed in both places, I think I would know better then people that arrived at August 6 ::p

Like I stated before the season ends when Ramadan begins, It is a known fact that Arab tourists go back to their country 2 weeks before Ramadan begins. It's common sense guys.

Furthermore, the season is no longer constrained to summer, go in the winter and spring you will see more European tourists then any other season. :P That is what caused the surge in numbers this year. You guys cannot judge by coming two weeks in Ramadan(the dead season)

Listen unless I am a dumb blind idiot you guys are wrong. Until July 30ish Beirut, and furthermore jabal Libnan was like I depicted, I was there from May-August and stayed in both places, I think I would know better then people that arrived at August 6 ::p

Like I stated before the season ends when Ramadan begins, It is a known fact that Arab tourists go back to their country 2 weeks before Ramadan begins. It's common sense guys.

Furthermore, the season is no longer constrained to summer, go in the winter and spring you will see more European tourists then any other season. :P That is what caused the surge in numbers this year. You guys cannot judge by coming two weeks in Ramadan(the dead season)

I was there from the first day of July to the middle of August, and there was definitely less people.

I encountered very little (real) traffic other than around Dora (where there is always traffic) and the few small roads that directly surround the walking district around Place D'etoile. The rest of the (fake) traffic was caused by overpass constructions and badly timed re-paving of most of the main roads, especially around the airport.

Our main loss in visitors have been 5aleeji for sure, and I wonder if its because other countries are better fit to host ramadan then us (ie Egypt). My grandma was telling me there was a drop in kuwaiti tourists in falougha (usually our population doubles from them) and she said its because most people are only renting p.aces to them and not letting them buy, which for the past long while we were one of the only places in the mountains were a kuwaiti person could purchase land. Apparently there are more east asian and brits renting in falougha than we could both recall
So my take on this is not only are we not the best setting for ramadan but we are also not as lenient with the arab tourists anymore, and they know it... Beirut IS to expensive for them and they loved the idea they could buy a mountain house and then rent it out to their friends. But now that they have to rent from lebs i guess its a turn off from what they got used too

Beirut, Lebanon: Middle East luxury special
Beirut, the party capital of the Middle East, buzzes with glamour and vitality, so pack your dancing shoes and go ready to stay up until dawn, says Lisa Grainger.


By Lisa Grainger
Published: 10:58AM BST 02 Sep 2010


It is 3am and through my double-glazed windows I can hear men shouting above the sound of revving car engines. My hotel room overlooks Martyrs' Square, where the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, and his seven bodyguards are buried, having been blown up near here in a car bomb just five years ago; where, soon afterwards, a million Lebanese marched to demand the withdrawal of Syrian soldiers; and where, in 2008, Hizbollah gunmen roamed. So, I am a little edgy.

I needn't be. Whereas 15 years ago, this area, Downtown, was a no-man's-land inhabited only by snipers, it is now the hip centre of the new, peaceful "Paris of the Middle East", heartland of one of the most glamorous, party-loving, hedonistic populations in the world. The sounds that woke me weren't of soldiers – just rich boys in their Ferrari toys, showing off outside the White nightclub, where they go to flex their platinum cards and shake their designer booty before racing off to the next venue, the next party. I'm in the New Beirut.

Breakfasting the following morning on the landscaped rooftop of Le Gray hotel with its Scottish owner, Gordon Campbell Gray, the scene is utterly serene. Water trickles over a glass-walled infinity pool. Guests shaded by taupe canvas umbrellas dip into fruit platters, flatbread still warm from the oven, herby Lebanese honey and thick, fragrant coffee. Church bells ring out from nearby Orthodox cathedrals, and then the muezzins' call to prayer fills the air from the minarets.

"Isn't it just too fabulous for words?" says Campbell Gray, contentedly surveying the blue sky, the chic clientele – attired in everything from sharp linen suits to full hijabs – and the smiling, super-efficient waiters. "It has to be the sexiest city on Earth, in my opinion. In fact, I think it's so sexy, I'm seriously considering moving here."

Walking through the city later, I can see what he means. Like other recently blitzed cities, Beirut still has a frisson fizzing through it, its air filled with a heady mix of gunpowder and jasmine, its streets a living collision of history and glamour. In the trendy Gemmayzeh area, bar walls are often still pockmarked with holes from bullets and rockets. On a street corner, old flower-sellers in finely pressed shirts chat to soldiers casually cradling machine-guns. New glass towers soar beside bombed-out ruins. On walls, political posters in Arabic script vie for attention with advertisements for rock gigs. Women in full-length hijabs pull little girls in pink Barbie outfits on plastic scooters, passing teenagers in black leather miniskirts and sky-high stilettos sipping exotic drinks. It's a spicy concoction of East and West, of Christian and Muslim, of Europe and the Middle East, a sort of cultural mezze with a bit of chilli thrown in.

For history buffs, however, the city is more a feast than a mezze platter. A few steps beyond our hotel, we have our first glimpse of the ancient ruins scattered throughout this city, remnants of one of the world's most ancient civilisations. "Lebanon's civil war started in 1975," says Lucia Sheikho, our guide and a part-time archaeologist. "Once it was over, in 1990, we began to dig beneath the rubble and found evidence of people living here since Neolithic times, as well as of the Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman, Arab and Ottoman eras." That explains the variety of structures about: sea walls built
before Christ; mosques gleaming with gold and crystal; crenellated Crusader towers built on foundations of Roman pillars; leafy town squares constructed by the French (one of them still sporting an old Rolex clock tower); tiny Romanesque-style churches built of stone and re-hung with the ancient icons hidden by parishioners during the civil war.

Just an hour's drive up the coast (an hour, that is, when the city's thick snakes of traffic aren't hopelessly entwined), the glamorous village of Byblos tumbles down a hillside into the sea, evidence of previous civilisations poking up through the earth. So charming are the little cobbled streets, the pretty sandstone harbour, the ruins overgrown with neon-pink flowers, that you begin to understand why in the Seventies it was the place to hang out. It is also why the glamorous South of France posse – Bardot, Brando, Sinatra, Niven – anchored their yachts here, taking up almost permanent residence in the Pepe Abed harbour-side fish restaurant, ordering the obligatory deep-fried sardines, baba ganoush, flatbread, olives, hummus and a bottle of the moreish Lebanese rosé before learning to party like the locals.

Foolishly, our Quintessentially guide had tried to pack too much into a day out: the underground Jeita caves – a jaw-droppingly enormous hole in the earth, nearly six miles long, with tiny walkways traversing deep spaces hung with wax-like stalactites – followed by a rather terrifying cable-car ride in the wind to see the views from the (closed) cathedral at Harissa. Sadly, hanging out in Byblos in the style of Sophia Loren, watching the playboys of the Middle East from Pepe Abed, wasn't an option.

But perhaps that wasn't a bad thing; traversing the country by car meant we had time to snooze. The right-on-the-button concierge at Le Gray had booked us a table that night at the fabulously kitsch nightclub, The Music Hall, which gets going only at 11pm. After fresh ginger martinis, then meltingly tender scallops on Le Gray's rooftop, we had plenty of energy to take in the acts – Afro-haired, bin Laden-bearded Arab boys doing The Beatles, and a glossy-haired heavy-metal band wearing Maharishi pants. People of all ages danced on chairs and tables. And until dawn, too, when we had to run back to our hotel, pack, then head for the airport, feet aching but spirits flying, infected – if not besotted – by Lebanese joie de vivre.

When to go

Autumn or spring – avoid seasonal heat and chilliness.

Where to stay

Le Gray (00 961 1 971 111, www.legray.com), with doubles from £224, is Beirut's first design hotel, five minutes' walk from
fashionable Downtown. Its 87 rooms are super-comfortable, the spa is staffed by osteopaths, and the pool has vertiginous views to the sea. Up the hill, 10 minutes' walk from Downtown, is the antique-filled Relais & Chateaux Hotel Albergo (00 961
1 339 797, www.albergobeirut.com) with 33 suites, from £182.

Where to eat

Indigo, on Le Gray's roof terrace, has fresh, inventive food and a cracking wine list. For dinner, buzzy Abdel Wahab (00 961 1 200 550), on Abdel Wahab El Inglizi Street, serves Lebanese specialities (the smoky baba ganoush is highly recommended).

What to do

Take your walking shoes for daytime, your party shoes for night-time. The centre of Beirut is easily traversed on foot: spend a day walking around Downtown, taking in the Great Al-Omari Mosque, St George's Maronite Cathedral and the Synagogue (still being renovated) before taking a taxi to the National Museum. In the trendy new Saifi arts area, stop at Johnny Farah for hand-stitched bags and belts and Assyla for clothes made from old ethnic fabrics. Don't bother about the beach. Instead, spend a day at Byblos and another at the magnificent ruins at Baalbeck, stopping at a winery for lunch. Pack evening clothes; the Lebanese dress up to party all night. And leave space for the Fortnum's-like food hall at the airport.

What to read

Syria & Lebanon (Lonely Planet, £10.49) and the inventive new Shop Beirut (www.abcdbook.com, £15). Quintessentially Travel (0845 224 6915, www.quintessentiallytravel.com) offers four nights' b&b at Le Gray from £1,479 per person, including return flights with Bmi and airport transfers.

It's extremely hot and MA FI KAHRABA ,who would want to stay in Lebanon?:nuts:

Guys,what are you talking about?

a friend of mine who lives in Riyadh,KSA, told me all flights during Eid holidays are full and he couldn't book one,but he didn't change his destination and booked a flight on 15th of September :)

my friend from Dhour el shweir said the town was busier than ever and that arab tourists were packing the venues and houses for rent, this was unseen before, this is weird, i get conflicting anecdotes all the time bass akid beirut is less busy, which makes cruising through the city a lot more enjoyable ( at least there's a +)

aljourd, a wonderful camping area in the jurd of Dannieh/hermel (http://www.aljourd.com/)http://www.iloubnan.info/uploads/resisable_images/other/Aljourd1.jpghttp://www.iloubnan.info/uploads/resisable_images/other/Aljourd4.jpg
photo credit iloubnan

Lebanon's boutique hotel sector shows high potential for future growth
By Fadi Khalife
Special to The Daily Star
Monday, September 06, 2010


Lebanon's boutique hotel sector shows high potential for future growth

BEIRUT: The boutique hotel sector in Lebanon is showing signs of slow growth, with the small number of participants in this niche market performing particularly well and displaying signs of optimism for future potential in the market as a whole.

A boutique hotel, according to the head of Lebanon’s Hotel Syndicate Pierre Achkar, is often quite small and usually consists of between 40 to 60 rooms.

“A boutique hotel is one that offers something special to its guests, its concept and look depending on where the hotel is located. Boutique hotels are characterized by their different room designs and sizes to guarantee that guests will never have the same experience twice,” Achkar said.

Achkar noted how boutique hotels offered the highest quality in all areas, including room service, food, amenities and multi-lingual staff.

“Inevitably therefore, these hotels often come with a very high-price tag,” he said.

Achkar informed The Daily Star that there was a high demand for rooms in boutique hotels mainly because Lebanon is still characterized by individual tourism rather than group-based tourism.

“Nevertheless, despite this high demand for rooms in boutique hotels, the majority of tourists to Lebanon are still preferring to choose the luxury-chain hotels because these are still the most well known. Since boutique hotels are often small and not overly exposed, many tourists still do not know about them,” Achkar said.

Achkar noted that although there was undoubtedly potential for the growth of the boutique hotel sector in Lebanon, a ceiling existed on individual-based tourism, citing the need for more 4-star hotels to accommodate for groups.

“Boutique hotels that are not excessively priced can attract wealthy groups from Europe and the Middle East. These [4-star] hotels are springing up outside Beirut since occupancy rates in the capital are usually above 75 percent on average during the summer months so are no longer able to accommodate large groups.”

Le Gray hotel, situated on the edge of Martyrs Square in Downtown Beirut, is one of Beirut’s latest boutique hotels. Opened in 2009, this trendy boutique hotel boasts 87 spacious and stylishly designed rooms and suites, as well as a restaurant, two lounges, a café and a glitzy rooftop bar.

The impeccable service and chic design – complemented by a particularly extensive art collection – characterize the Campbell Gray Hotels and have helped it gain instant popularity among Beirut’s fashion-conscious local population, as well as with tourists who have aided it in securing full occupancy since its opening last year.

According to Gordon Campbell Gray, owner of Le Gray, the concept of a boutique hotel has become a little distorted in recent years.

“The implication though is that it is small and stands out [from the rest] of the crowd; it implies individuality. The key to a boutique hotel is that every hotel looks totally different; each hotel is like a little masterpiece,” Campbell Gray said.

Commenting on the status of the boutique hotel sector in Lebanon and its future growth, Campbell Gray noted how the concept was still quite new one in the Middle East region.

“We’ve been totally packed since the opening. People crave individuality here; they want something fresh and original. Of course there will always be the people who are only comfortable with a brand name but the world is changing … people are seeking individuality.”

In terms of future demand for occupancy in boutique hotels, Campbell Gray noted that demand was far greater than supply in Beirut.

“Despite that, Beirut should be careful not to overdevelop, it’s still a small city.”

Nevertheless, Campbell Gray noted that the boutique hotel sector in Lebanon was still underdeveloped, so for many of the higher-end tourists that Lebanon accommodates, they have no choice but the luxury-chain hotels.

“For many incoming tourists to Lebanon, staying in luxury-chain hotels is what they’ve always done. It’s certainly a leap for people not to go to a luxury-chain hotel in this region in general. That’s why it’s so important to give people the choice between the larger-chain hotels and boutique hotels,” Campbell Gray said.

He also noted that the boutique hotel sector in Lebanon certainly has great potential, owing to the common held view that Lebanon was a particularly fashion-aware destination.

“Whereas a boutique hotel is one shot with passion, brands are far more predictable. In my opinion, the success of Le Gray has come from the fact that the guests are very excited by the passion we have infused into the design and attention to detail we’ve put in, as well as our extensive art collection. Lebanese people are extremely stylish and chic; they understand good design and have great taste. They also value good food, which is why we’ve put such a focus on the restaurants,” Campbell Gray said.

Addressing markets that are targeted for boutique hotels, Campbell Gray stressed that individual and vacation travelers continued to form the bulk of the demand at his hotel, as opposed to business travelers.

“Le Gray has highlighted the potential for leisure in Beirut. It’s seen as an especially sexy hotel; we have guests coming from Paris and London for the weekend just based on reviews they’ve read of the hotel. Guests as well as hoteliers are entrepreneurial – they want to try something new,” he said.

The importance of an efficient and well trained staff base was highlighted by Campbell Gray as a reason for the swiftly earned reputation of his boutique hotel.

“I think another factor contributing to the success of this hotel is the wonderful staff we have – there is a very strong service ethic. We put a big emphasis on respecting, training and inspiring the team.”

But Campbell Gray was keen to praise the warmth of the Lebanese spirit as a major factor for the success of his hotel.

“A lot of the credit goes to the character of the Lebanese people; their friendliness and welcoming nature really shine through to this wonderful personalized service. And from the side of the Lebanese guests we have, they are so complimentary that this spurs us on to keep aiming higher.”

Le Vendome Hotel, located on the Ain al-Mreisseh waterfront, is one of Beirut’s most well established boutique hotels. Aligned to the Intercontinental chain since 1996, this elegant French-style hotel hosts 73 opulently designed rooms and suites and two restaurants.

According to Jennifer el-Khoury, public relations and communications senior executive at the hotel, the term boutique hotel has been used “more and more over the last decade to describe hotels that offer and intimate and memorable experience for the guest.”

Khoury emphasized three factors that were quite specific to boutique hotels: size, service and individuality.

Size and service are seen to complement one another within the concept of a boutique hotel. Since boutique hotels are often smaller than hotels attached to larger chain hotels, with fewer rooms, a larger emphasis can be placed on offering “exceptional levels of service tailored to meet the individual needs of their guests,” she said.

For instance, Khoury cited the 24-hour butler service, a tailored chauffeur and special packages including a Bentley car as ways to meet the exceptional customer demands at Le Vendome.

In terms of individuality, Khoury highlighted how many boutique hotels have a specific theme, dependent on which part of the world the hotel is located. Furthermore, bedrooms in boutique hotels are “unique, with a different look and feel to every room.”

Commenting on the number of boutique hotels in Lebanon, Khoury referred to the three mains ones in Beirut – Le Vendome, Le Gray and Albergo Hotel. Nonetheless, despite this relatively small figure, Khoury noted that many boutique hotels would be built in the coming years.

“The reason for the projected growth is that the majority of high-end travelers lean toward personalized services rather than large standardized hotels,” she said, adding that “ they feel more pampered and more at home, and especially more secure.”

Indeed, according to Khoury, there is no difference in prices between a boutique hotel and a luxury hotel; both are aligned in terms of their price and services since both tap into the luxury market.

But due to the more-personalized nature of the overall experience of boutique hotels, this may help serve the expansion of this sector in the future.

Pertaining to plans for establishing more boutique hotels around Greater Beirut, Khoury noted that within the next two years, two boutique hotels were scheduled to open in Beirut’s Downtown area and another in Raouche.

And then they were gone.

For months, Beirut was bustling with visitors from the Gulf. Hamra Street – one of the capital’s main commercial thoroughfares, peppered with all sorts of shops and an increasing number of restaurants and cafés – was simply jam packed in early August. The men in dishdashas, women in abayas and armies of children, however, more or less disappeared once the moon ushered in the holy month of Ramadan in the middle of August.

“We’re experiencing a bit of calm during the month of Ramadan,” said Jean Abboud, president of the Association of Travel and Tourism Agents in Lebanon. “I don’t have an exact number, but you can feel it. There is a drop.”

For the second year in a row, Abboud said, Lebanon is welcoming record numbers of tourists, and while Ramadan may put a dent in the season, he wagers there will be a bump to follow.

“Usually, without [a mid-summer’s] Ramadan, by the 10th or 15th of September, the tourist season ends, but I think there will be a one-month extension,” he said. Estimating a 20 to 25 percent increase over last year of tourists visiting between mid-September and mid-October, Abboud said he already has evidence to support his claim.

“You can see it from the booking system,” he said. “Now we are seeing that advance bookings [for mid-September] are regaining again.” Indeed, a review of statistics from the airport shows that in the last five years, Lebanon has consistently seen a slight bump (a few hundred more passengers than average) in arrivals in the days surrounding the beginning of Eid al-Fitr.

Abboud said that in the Gulf, the holiday break for the Eid is around two weeks, so both citizens of Gulf countries and Lebanese working there come to Lebanon to spend the Eid.

Lebanon’s tourism sector is not the only part of the economy impacted during Ramadan. In fact, the holy month regularly impacts the economies of Muslim countries. The prices of fruits, vegetables, cooking oils and sweets all jump during the month.

While some governments subsidize the price of staple foods during Ramadan, Lebanon does not.

As NOW Lebanon reported last year, this price hike undoubtedly hits Lebanon’s poor the hardest. But it also takes a toll on the restaurant business, said Tony Rami, secretary general of the Restaurant Owners Syndicate, who owns several establishments in Beirut.

Rami said profits fall around 70 percent during Ramadan both because of fewer customers during the day and because of the not-as-profitable Iftar dinner package deals most restaurants offer during the month.

Restaurants do see a boom during the hours just after sunset, but Rami said many patrons who come at night mainly smoke arguileh and drink tea, coffee or juice, again populating the establishment but not offering much help to the proprietors’ bottom lines.

“All over the city is down in Ramadan, especially the night life,” Rami said. “The night life is only moving a little bit on Saturday and a bit on Friday.”

Restaurants also compete hard to be venues for corporate Iftar celebrations, as many companies treat their employees to at least one meal during the month.

“Yeah, of course, it’s a big competition. And especially when it’s corporate, you have to offer many menu items,” again cutting into profits, Rami said.

In several countries Ramadan can be a boom time for retailers, who offer special sales during the holy month, particularly as the Eid is traditionally a time of gift giving (especially clothing).

In the Beirut suburb of Shiyyah, retailers covered the area’s main commercial thoroughfare with red, white and blue umbrellas to promote shopping during the month. That said, the bite Ramadan is taking out of another potential record summer tourist season will likely hit retailers’ pocketbooks, and, like Abboud, they undoubtedly hope for at least one more month of heavy tourist spending.

I really think it is because of the Eid. My family is going to Lebanon and the closest date they could find a plane is the 26th of September. We are in Montreal. So Basically planes are booked for the next three weeks and we are in September! Which is good I think. I will be going inchallah by the second week of October, I will see how long the wait will be when I decide to buy my ticket. My travel agent did mention that the planes are fully booked out of Lebanon for the Eid though. I guess we will have to wait and see...

Abboud Refutes Criticism: Number of Tourists Rose by 22% in 1st 7 Months

Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud refuted accusations about spreading lies and confirmed that the number of tourists rose by 22% in the first seven months of 2010.

"This percentage does not include the Lebanese, unless they hold other nationalities, or Syrians or any other person who has the Lebanese residency," Abboud told al-Rai News in remarks published Tuesday.

He blamed bureaucracy for his failure to implement his vows and said "politics" prevented the establishment of a council that would promote a good image of Lebanon.

Tourism in Lebanon - A new record for visitor numbers and revenue
Monday, 20 September 2010 18:18

Tourism_in_Lebanon
Lebanon is quietly confident of breaking through the 2m mark for tourist arrivals this year and setting a new record both for visitor numbers and revenue, but the government is being urged to do more to ensure the sector's growth.

Tourism is one of the key sectors of the Lebanese economy, representing some 20% of gross domestic product (GDP), and – according to the World Council of Travel and Tourism (WTTC) – accounting for 38% of employment, a figure it expects to increase to 42% over the next decade.

Last year, just over 1.85m tourists went through passport control at Lebanon's ports of entry, a 39% increase on 2008 that smashed the previous best of 1.4m, posted in 1974, a year before the outbreak of the 15-year-long civil war.

The recovery will be given further momentum if the tourism sector meets the high expectations held for it in 2010 by the Ministry of Tourism, which predicts that arrivals could top 2.25m this year.

To date, this forecast looks like being fulfilled, with some 964,000 visitors arriving in the first six months of the year, a 26.6% rise on the 761,415 tourists in the same period of 2009. The trend appears to be continuing in to the second half of the year, with July arrivals up 11.58% on the same month in 2009, with 361,934 visitors landing, according to Tourism Ministry figures released in mid August.

However, there are some threats to that trend, most notably tensions with neighbouring Israel. At the beginning of August, an exchange of gunfire between Israeli and Lebanese soldiers left four dead and a number of others wounded, and briefly saw reserves from both sides being moved towards the border in the south.

Not surprisingly, Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud took pains to play down the spat and a heated exchange of words that followed, saying there was no risk the tensions could escalate into war and that the incident would not harm the tourism trade.

"Tourists are used to such events and I don't think that they will want to end their vacation in Lebanon because of what happened," he told local media.

The minister's comments came after a number of foreign countries, including some in the Arab world, warned their citizens to reconsider traveling to Lebanon and to take extra precautions if doing so.

Lebanon still has to contend with the long-standing impression, dating from the civil war and reinforced by the Israeli invasion of 2006, that it remains an unsafe place to visit. Changing this could take time and a sustained period of uninterrupted peace.

While some tourists may be wary of coming to Lebanon, investors in the tourism sector are not, with around $3bn worth of projects currently being implemented across the country. In Beirut alone, there are some 1200 new hotel rooms being added to the existing short-term accommodation stock, with the total number of rooms expected in all of Lebanon to rise from the current 16,000 to 21,000 by 2011, according to Tourism Ministry figures.

Though investments from the private sector are on the rise, they are not being matched by government funding, a problem that could harm the tourism industry down the track. Road links to some of Lebanon's most popular and scenic sites outside of Beirut are poorly maintained, making for extended traveling time and a bumpy ride. While booming visitor numbers strain water supplies, especially in the summer months, many hotels, resorts and tourism attractions need to operate their own electricity. While many tourists might not mind roughing it a bit, most would still like a hot shower and a cold drink after doing so.

If the Lebanese tourism industry is to meet the predictions of global travel bodies and become a bigger employer and the economy's driving force, the government may need to try harder to smooth the sector's path.

Global Arab Network

35 rooms, trendy hotel in town!


http://www.beirutnightlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/35_rooms.jpg

After 15 successful years in the Food & Beverage industry, Ant Ventures Holding (company behind Casper & Gambini’s, Eatalian, Silver by C&G, From The Tee and Falafel Nadia), entered the hotel world with its first “Trendy Hotel” opening in Hamra, in the heart the capital city Beirut. 35 rooms is the perfect mix of comfort and originality, offering a stylish and trendy stay for executive business trips, family vacations, and weekend getaways, along with tailor-made individual and corporate packages.
35 rooms is conveniently located 5km from Rafic Hariri International Airport and 2km from Beirut Central District, the business and shopping center of Lebanon’s elite. Hamra Street itself is also very vibrant and guests are at a walking distance from a multitude of attractions; from restaurants, cafés and pubs to shops, universities and museums.
35 rooms stands out with its sleek design, professional service and friendly staff. The uniqueness of the hotel is reflected through graphical elements and welcoming colors in the hallways as well as vibrant designs in the rooms. Each of the 35 rooms is characterized with its own style, adding flare and personalization to both short and long-term stays. The standard rooms, junior & executive suites, apartments and the penthouse are each designed with their own wall visuals and with the highest attention to detail. All guest rooms include several amenities, of which kitchenette / mini-bar / personal safe / flat screen LCD & DVD / high speed wireless internet / dry cleaning & laundry services. Extra services include airport pickup / car rental / babysitting / valet parking / Doctor upon request.
Guests can start their day with an open breakfast buffet served in the lobby lounge, or with an in-room breakfast exclusively catered by Casper & Gambini’s. While in the afternoons, guests relax and socialize over coffee, tea and a variety of cocktails while surfing the free wireless internet.

2 articles on Beirut today!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703440604575495354276085846.html?KEYWORDS=beirut

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/middle-east-meets-west-20100923-15nsj.html

35 rooms, trendy hotel in town!




Where exactly is this in Hamra?

Abboud Expected 26% Increase in the Number of Tourists in 2010

The Lebanese Tourism Minister, Fadi Abboud, declared during the third Greek-Lebanese economic forum, held in Athens, that the number of Greek tourists to Lebanon is predicted to climb to 6,254 tourists by the end of this year from 5,030 tourists in 2009. Abboud agreed with his Greek counterpart to create a chamber that would gather Lebanese and Greek owners of travel agencies to discuss tourist exchange programs. The investment opportunities in the Lebanese tourism sector are increasing with the tourism ministry offering 2,000 new permits to tourism businesses during the past seven months. Abboud expected 26% rise in the number of tourists in 2010 after almost 2 million tourists visited Lebanon in 2009. In addition, the Minister stressed on the importance to build new hotels,restaurants and resorts, noting that the occupancy rate at Beirut hotels was the fourth highest in the Middle East region.


FOCUS IN BRIEF
Lebanese Tourism Sector in Perspective up to July 2010

The tourism industry in Lebanon has always been important to the local economy, representing a major source of income and contributing up to 38% of GDP. The sector supports 553,000 jobs across Lebanon, the equivalent of 38% of total employment, according to World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

The sector, has been slowly rebuilding itself in Lebanon after the continued turmoil that lasted from 2005 to 2007. During that period, the number of tourists fell gradually by 17%, down from 1.2M tourists in 2004 to around 1M in 2007. However, following that phase, tourism activity picked up again, with the number of tourists reaching 1.3M in 2008 and 1.85M in 2009.
According to World Tourism Organization (WTO), Lebanon has posted the highest tourists’ arrivals rate of growth in the world last year (39%).

Following the tremendous performance registered in 2009, Lebanon is expected to break again the record this year. The country had about 1.32 million visitors in the first 7 months of the year, 22.1% increase from the same period a year earlier. Tourist spending increased as well, going up by 30% during the same period. This shows that the spending per tourist went up this year up to July. According to the Ministry of Tourism, tourists in Lebanon spend on average $3000 per visit, ranking among the highest rates in the world. The Ministry believes that despite the recorded growth of the sector, the market is not yet saturated and there is plenty of room to grow further. WTTC
estimates the sector to grow by 11.3% in 2010.

The positive growth witnessed in the tourism sector, can be mostly attributed to the relative politico-stability that has prevailed in Lebanon throughout July 2010, the continuous investments being made in the modernization and expansion of the tourism sector (such as hotels, restaurants and resorts), and the bright image of Lebanon promoted by international media, including the New York Times, Paris Match, where it featured as a top tourist destination. Worth noting that Lebanon was listed among 44 international destinations recommended by the New York Times for travel and Jeita Grotto has successfully been qualified to proceed to the second phase in the voting for the New 7 Wonders of Nature. In addition, the stability of the exchange rate and the high dollarisation of the economy at a time where /$ rate remains well above parity,has also helped boost European incomers.

Arab countries and Gulf represented the main flow of tourists, both in the number of visitors (that rose by 26% and stood at 560,000, throughout the first 7 months of 2010) and in the duration of their stay with Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait leading the way. The share of Arab tourists has been on the uprise reaching 42.5% in the period up to July 2010, up from the same period a year earlier. Tourists from Europe ranked second with a 24.3% share, followed by Asia and America with shares of
17% and 14.2%, respectively. Lebanon has been witnessing a rise of Far East and South East Asian travelers with their share increasing from 12.5% in 2007 to 17% in the first 7 months of 2010, however, tourists from Europe and Americas kept the same shares throughout the last 3 years. This suggests that Lebanon should work on a promotional plan to market the country in those regions where the share of tourists declined or stayed constant. In fact, the ministry of Tourism has started
this year to consider the issue and is working to better attract Europeans, through a boost in marketing.

On the spending side, Saudis’ spending, which tops the list, accounted for 23% of total spending; registering a 49% increase from their last year’s spending (up to July 2009). Kuwaitis’ spending ranks second, with a 10% share of spending and a 10% increase from their last year spending level (up to July 2009). The portion of spending keeps on declining as we move east with European spending accounting for a very small portion of total spending. However, this year, French tourists improved significantly their expenditures (up by 34%).

The upsurge in the tourism sector, boosted along hotels and air traffic activities: Hotels occupancy rate in Beirut stood at 70% in the first 7 months of 2010, according to Deloitte. This stands as the second highest rate in the region after Dubai’s. The growth in visitation was also well reflected in the hotels average rates that registered the largest increase in the region, going up by 21.6% to $164.9, during the same period. According to the HVS Market intelligence, more than 2,000 rooms are to be opened between 2010 and 2013. Beirut Central District (BCD) will be home to even more hotels, many of them will be located in what Solidere has designed ‘the Hotel District’. This district accounts for more than 4% of the total build up area under Solidere’s control.

Airport activity has also been on the uprise with the number of passengers arriving and departing from Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport (BIA) improving in the first 7 months of the year to (equivalent to % increase) and to (the equivalent of % increase), respectively. As BIA is reaching its full capacity of 6 million passengers a year, plans are already under way to expand the facilities. The airport is expected to handle up to 16 million passengers each year once the expansion is completed.

The healthy growth, witnessed in the tourism sector, however, might exhaust its potential, in the medium term, as the expansion would eventually get constrained by the country’s limited infrastructure. Lebanon cannot accommodate an indefinitely growing number of tourists with the severe deficiencies of the road network, the public transports, the telecom service and the electrical sector. Massive investments, along with structural reforms and a good promotional plan are
necessary in the above cited divisions, to expand the accommodation capacity of Lebanon and strengthen the potential of the tourism sector.

Winter Holidays
Lebanon heating up
Posted on: October 2010



WITH Lebanon’s tourism industry in recovery and the country looking to increase the number of winter visitors, TTN had a five-minute chat with Ron Sayegh of skileb.com to find out what’s on offer.

What are the main ski resorts in Lebanon?

Mzaar is the largest, most popular. It has good nightlife and is just one hour from the airport/Beirut. Cedars is the highest, it is very calm during week days and two and a half hours from the airport.

Approximately how many people do they attract per year and where do they come from?

I would give a rough estimate of 70,000 skiers. Around two thirds are from Lebanon and the remainder are tourists, this is why Lebanon still has great potential to attract more foreigners.

And are visitor numbers growing?

Yes, steadily at around 15 per cent every season.

What levels of skiing are on offer?

Both ski resorts cater for first-time skiers through wide and gentle slopes and also offer steep black pistes for the experienced. You can enjoy 80km of groomed terrain in Mzaar and about 30 in the Cedars. Private and group lessons are available in both resorts.

What is the best time to come skiing in Lebanon?

The ski season starts around Christmas and lasts till early April. At skileb.com, we normally recommend our guests to avoid February, since it is the peak period and prices are sometimes higher.

What sort of après ski is available?

Mzaar offers a wide choice of restaurants and bars that remain lively throughout the week, whereas the Cedars is very calm from Sunday night till Thursday and gets busier over the week-end.

Other apres-ski activities include snowmobiling, hiking, spa and wellness and sightseeing tours from/to the resorts.

Is it true that you can ski in the morning and swim in the Med in the afternoon?

True indeed. The sea is relatively cold during winter but we ended offering a ski and swim Lebanon tour following demand from our guests. Swimming is normally done around the coastal area of Byblos, only one hour away from Mzaar ski resort.

Anything else you would like to add?

Lebanon is safe, three hours away from the Gulf, mostly sunny, you will pay half of what it costs to ski in the Alps and people are friendly and welcoming. We would recommend combining your ski trip with a stay in Beirut to experience the capital and its renowned nightlife.

Tags: RON SAYEGH OF SKILEB.COM |

Beirut: Among other attractions, a destination for clubbing

Some go to Lebanon for the sightseeing. Some go for the lovely food. Some visit to enjoy the amazing winter season while others go to shop at the ABC mall. But a sizable number of people--including myself--go for the nightlife.

The city, while heartbroken by the destruction of war, opens its doors for all people to enjoy themselves in the different clubs and bars around town. The nightlife spots are spread across the city and in most high-level hotels. In the following, this reporter will escort you on a short tour through the most notable night clubs and bars in the city that knows no darkness.

Al-Gemayze District:

Gemayze is a narrow small street in the heart of Beirut inundated with amazing bars and pubs. This hot spot is a must-visit in Beirut if you want to spend your evenings in great ambiance and lovely company. Most bars and pubs in Gemayze are relatively small, but each and every one of them has its own taste and style that will grab your attention.

As you enter the street of Gemayze, you will immediately notice the bars around you. Do not fall for the first bar that looks appealing. Take a lovely walk down the street (which goes down for nearly 20 minutes), and check out the selection. Some bars offers an open mic night while others offer a certain genre of music (Hip Hop, Gypsy guitar, jazz, etc) or even Karaoke.

Highlights in the bar scene here: 55 Lounge and GEM.

SkyBar:

Located on the top of al-Nahar newspaper building, SkyBar Beirut is one of the most important locations for any night-lifer in Beirut. The bar, overlooking the sea of Beirut, is an exact copy of the bar with the same name on Egypt's Mediterranean coast. But Beirut's rendition boasts a larger collection of alcoholic beverages and cocktails. The bar is divided into two sections; the tables and the bar stand. You can get inside to stand next to the bar without any reservation if you ‘look the part’ ( if you are dressed for clubbing). Tables are reserved a week in advance--for certain holidays a month in advance booking is necessary--so be careful to book your table before hand.

The service is amazing and the view is breathtaking. The bar, one of the most exclusive in Beirut, is a great experience for a night out in Beirut.

Phone number: +961-3-939191

The C-Lounge:

Located on the rooftop of the Bay View hotel, the C-Lounge is dangerously hip and amazingly chill. The place welcomes you with open arms and allows you to spend a fantastic night surrounded by beautiful people and chill-out music. The party starts around 1AM, where the resident DJ kicks off the night with some dance-tunes. The C-Lounge is known for its strict policy prohibiting Arabic music; their music collection is solely new and hip Western tunes.

The service is amazing, and the waiter will treat regulars with a complimentary drink to set the mood every now and again.

Phone number: +961-1-373090-95

Buddha Bar:

Buddha Bar is the place to be seen in Beirut. The bar, composed of three floors (a dinning hall and a two-story bar), is considered the indisputably hottest spot in the Lebanese capital. A big Buddha statue stands in the middle of the dining area, surrounded by tables for the people who want to enjoy some Asian cuisine, but as the night takes over, people vacate the tables and migrate towards the bar section.

Dozens of bartenders are standing waiting for you to order, and a long list of bottles of wines and strangely-named cocktails are provided for you to pick your poison of choice. Bit by bit you will be ready to swim across the beautiful people of Beirut and enjoy the beats of the DJs in the bar. Complimentary shots are provided to you wherever you stand and servers, both male and female, and beautiful and constantly buzzing around with drinks to keep the party moving.

The best thing about Buddha bar is that when you book a table, it becomes your own private dance floor, as your friends gather around the short table and dance around--or on top of--it with you.

The bar is located in Beirut's downtown Assaily Building. Phone number: +961-1-993199.


http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news/beirut-among-other-attractions-destination-clubbing

^^ This report must be a couple years old. Skybar moved to BIEL and was replaced by White @ An-nahar.

I reads it also it was current (at least dated current)

^^

Yeah, it is supposed to be quite current. :D

Maybe whoever wrote the article has no visited Lebanon in quite sometime and is basing it on some previous trip. :D You never know. :lol:

Abboud notes 17 percent increase in Lebanon’s 2010 visitor rate
October 21, 2010 share


During a Thursday press conference, Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud said that statistics show that the number people visiting Lebanon in 2010 has increased by 17 percent from 2009.

“694, 662 people visited Lebanon in 2010, which [amounts to a] 17.79 percent [increase] from last year and a 72.29 percent [increase] from the same months in 2008,” Abboud said.

He also said that he expects the number of visitors to Lebanon in 2010 to reach two million by the end of the year.

-NOW Lebanon

Abboud notes 17 percent increase in Lebanon’s 2010 visitor rate
October 21, 2010 share


During a Thursday press conference, Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud said that statistics show that the number people visiting Lebanon in 2010 has increased by 17 percent from 2009.

“694, 662 people visited Lebanon in 2010, which [amounts to a] 17.79 percent [increase] from last year and a 72.29 percent [increase] from the same months in 2008,” Abboud said.

He also said that he expects the number of visitors to Lebanon in 2010 to reach two million by the end of the year.

-NOW Lebanon
due to the bad political situation this number will unfortunately never be reached. We should have reached 1 000 000 till now.

http://www.35rooms.com/

Abboud projects revenues of $8 billion from 2010 tourism
The Daily Star


22 October 2010

BEIRUT: Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud expected Thursday revenues from the tourism industry in Lebanon to reach nearly $8 billion by the end of 2010, compared to $7.2 billion in 2009.

“We believe that Lebanese tourism will post a considerable leap from 2009’s revenue of $7.2 billion,” he told The Daily Star after his news conference.

Tourism remained one the main sources of revenues despite the tense political atmosphere in the country and the occasional security setbacks.

Hotel occupancy also remained strong this summer as Arab tourists flocked to Lebanon in great numbers.

Abboud stressed that the figures of this year’s inflow of tourists ran counter to rumors that tourism this year has been insignificant, adding that those rumors were part of a larger campaign that aimed to discredit the ministry.

Abboud announced that the number of tourists in the last nine months alone represented a 17.79 percent increase from all of last year.

The ministry reports that Lebanon has received nearly 1.69 million tourists and estimates that another 500,000 will follow in the next three months.

Abboud also said that Lebanon has received a greater variety of nationalities than it has ever seen in its history, with many tourists hailing from various parts of Eastern Asia, and Latin and Central America.

In 2009, Lebanon ranked first in the UN’s World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) World Tourism Barometer on tourism growth.

The group found that tourism in Lebanon rose by 39 percent over 2008 figures, with a total of 1.8 million tourists.

This occurred amid a 4 percent decline in global tourism, with the Middle East being one of the hardest hit regions, according to the UNWTO.

Abboud cautioned that although tourists from other Arab states constituted the largest and most important single group of visitors to the country, at roughly 36 percent of all of Lebanon’s tourists, it behooves the ministry to focus on attracting tourists from other regions.

He said that the Muslim month of Ramadan which will fall during the summer season for another four years will put a significant dent in Arab tourism.

Over the past year, the ministry has signed six agreements with Jordan, Qatar, Syria, Tunis, Turkey and Iran. Abboud said that these greatly helped to boost tourism, noting that over 25,000 Iranians visited the country in one month alone.

As part of an initiative to attracting tourists from the West, the ministry is currently introducing a global classification system to which the Lebanese hospitality industry must conform

The ministry has enlisted the services of the international inspection group, Bureau Veritas (BV), to carry this out.

“It’s important to note that the Tourism Ministry will be the first of the ministries to usher in the establishment of a ‘unified network,’” said Abboud, who argued that standardizing the tourism sector would facilitate decision-making processes and help to bolster investors’ “trust” in Lebanon.

Abboud detailed some of the BV’s inspection processes, and asked members of the hospitality sector not to view this development as a punitive exercise, but rather as one that worked to enhance the quality of services and strengthen coordination between various segments of the industry.

Abboud also disclosed plans to set up a multi-lingual call center for tourists, with Telesupport International spearheading the initiative.

The call center aims to operate on a 24-hour-a-day basis. Abboud said that as of next Tuesday, a four-digit sequence, 1735, can be dialed so that tourists can air complaints and send inquiries.

When asked about the effects of Lebanon’s political uncertainty on the next quarter’s tourism performance, the tourism minister said that this year’s figures demonstrated that the industry would stave off the repercussions.
© Copyright The Daily Star 2010.

Lebanon's tourism sector poised for further growth
By The Daily Star

Friday, October 29, 2010

BEIRUT: Amid a backdrop of rising hotel occupancy levels over the past few years and increasing revenue per available room (revPAR), Lebanon’s hotel sector and wider tourism sector are reaping the rewards of thriving performance. Although statistics for 2010 point to a slight downward trend in hotel occupancy, Deloitte Middle East’s analysis points to the potential for further robust growth.

According to statistics from STR Global, in the year to date at end August, Lebanon’s hotel occupancy level stood at 64.4 percent, registering a slight decline of 5.8 percent over the same timeframe in 2009.

“This year the holy month of Ramadan fell in August, prompting Arab tourists, one of the traditional mainstays of Lebanon’s high summer tourism season, to return to their home countries. In light of this, the fact that hotel occupancy for the first eight months fell by a mere 5.8 percent, can be taken as a positive sign for Lebanon’s tourism sector,” said Joe al-Fadl, Deloitte partner in charge of the Financial Services Industry in the Middle East.

In the previous two years hotel occupancy had been on the rise, increasing from 53.5 percent in 2008 to 69.1 percent in 2009, according to STR Global. These statistics reflect the era of stability in Lebanon’s previously tempestuous political and security situation.

“With hotel occupancy maintaining consistency over a period of several years, Lebanese hoteliers have been able to successfully increase average room rates,” said Fadl. “This resulted in revPAR of $136, representing a growth of 11 percent for the year-to-August 2010,” he added.

Lebanon’s tourism industry is a large contributor to the country’s GDP, placing it among the most prominent in the Levant region. In terms of employment, tourism contributes a large percentage of the total workforce. While tourism’s contribution to the country’s GDP is expected to witness annualized growth of over 5 percent during the period 2010 to 2020, employment is expected to grow at the rate of 3 percent per annum over the same period.

“In the coming years, thousands of rooms will be added to the hotel’s capacity, as a result of the projects under construction,” reiterated Fadl.

“Through the expected increase in hotel supply in Beirut in particular and Lebanon in general and the effective marketing and promotion campaigns to promote tourism at a regional and international scale, Lebanon will be positioned as a leading tourist destination while securing continued performance growth within the hospitality sector,” he concluded. – The Daily Star

a7VxzPJFzfc

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/middle-east/brilliant-beirut-2120050.html

Tourists to Lebanon up 17.8 percent in first 9 months
By The Daily Star

Monday, November 08, 2010


BEIRUT: The number of incoming tourists to Lebanon totaled 1,694,662 in the first nine months of 2010, constituting an increase of 17.8 percent from 1,438,619 tourists in the same period last year, as reported by Byblos Bank’s Lebanon This Week. Arab tourists accounted for 33.4 percent of total visitors and were followed by visitors from Europe with 21.5 percent, Asia with 22.2 percent, the Americas with 13.1 percent, Africa with 7 percent and Oceania with 2.8 percent. The number of tourists reached 202,529 in September 2010, constituting a rise of 31.8 percent from 153,674 in September 2009. Tourists from Asia accounted for 44.7 percent of total visitors in September 2010, followed by visitors from Africa with 22.3 percent, the Americas with 17.8 percent, Europe with 10.2 percent, Oceania with 3.4 percent and Arab countries with 1.5 percent. Incoming tourists totaled 1.9 million in 2009, up 39 percent year on year and constituting the highest growth rate in the world in tourist arrivals last year. – The Daily Star

Cosmetic surgery puts new face on Lebanon

By Heather Murdock

BEIRUT | "Congratulations," said Dr. Edward Abdulnour, as he gave his 33-year-old patient a quick pat on the shoulder.

The patient, a Lebanese woman, appeared to be smiling because her lips were red and swollen. After having her lips enlarged, her face lifted and her nose narrowed, she looked too groggy from anesthesia to smile.

The doctor whisked out of the room, leaving his assistant to wrap thick gauze bandages around her newly stapled head.

Plastic surgery has long been popular in this city, known for wild parties, beautiful people and political instability. In the past few years of relative calm, it also has become one of the country's hottest tourist attractions.

"Lebanon is a destination in this field," said Mona Faris, head of promotions at the Lebanese Ministry of Tourism.

Plastic surgeons say between 20 percent and 40 percent of their patients are cosmetic tourists. Most come to Lebanon come from Arab countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan. But doctors say they are now getting more patients from the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia.

The biggest draw to Lebanon is the price. Operations often cost half as much in Lebanon as they do in Europe or the U.S., according to Dr. Roland Tohme of the Beirut Beauty Clinic, a cosmetic surgery center that caters to tourists. A nose job that costs between $5,000 and $7,000 in the U.S. or Europe can cost $2,000 in Lebanon, he said.

"They come to spend their vacation," said Dr. Tohme, "and they do their operation."

Nose jobs, breast implants and liposuction are by far the most common procedures, Dr. Tohme said. Recently, a procedure designed to reduce excess skin after a weight loss of 60 to 90 pounds has become more popular among cosmetic tourists. "Now it's the new era in plastic surgery," he said.

It is also a new era for Lebanese tourism in general, according to Ministry of Tourism statistics. In the past nine months, Lebanon has greeted 15 percent more tourists than the same time period in 2009. The year before, the number of tourists increased by almost 40 percent, accounting for about 20 percent of the country's GDP, according to the Associated Press.

It is not just cost that draws patients from abroad, said Dr. Elias Chammas, director of the Hazmieh International Medical Center, just outside of Beirut. Patients also come to Lebanon for privacy.

Most of his foreign patients come from Arab countries that are more conservative than Lebanon and where plastic surgery can be considered taboo, said Dr. Chammas.

"They come and they do liposuction," he said. "How can you tell if someone has done liposuction? She will tell you, 'I was on a diet.'"

Medical tourism has long drawn patients from around the world to Lebanon, and in the past year, the government has started marketing the country's cosmetic surgeons. Last year, the Ministry of Tourism hosted the opening of a private travel agency specifically designed for plastic surgery patients.

Image Concept arranges surgeries and hotel stays along with tourism packages, said owner Zeina El Haj in an upscale Beirut cafe while sipping a tiny cup of Lebanese coffee. Typical of well-dressed Lebanese women, Ms. El Haj has her hair and nails done professionally at least once a week.

Cosmetic tourists also are attracted by the popularity of plastic surgery among Lebanese women, who are famed for their meticulously cared for beauty, Ms. El Haj said. "It shows you how much credibility this place has," she said.

According to Ms. El Haj, people also come to Lebanon to enjoy the sights while they recover from their surgeries. Ancient ruins, picturesque mountains and beaches draw people to the Lebanese countryside.

Often called the "party capital of the Middle East," Beirut is known for its decadent night life, restaurants and liberal attitudes. Ms. El Haj said most patients have no problem partying only days after their surgeries.

"It doesn't look weird or odd here for people to go to a restaurant with a bandage," she said.

Some patients say Beirut's glamorous image may bring in cosmetic tourists, but it comes at a price for local women. "Nadia," who asked not to use her real name because she does not want anyone to know about her recent surgery, said Lebanese women are under enormous pressure to look good.

"If you are not beautiful, [employers] won't recruit you," she said, "no matter what your qualifications."

Doctors also temper their enthusiasm over the rising popularity of cosmetic tourism in Lebanon with the worry that the country's fragile peace won't last long.

Internally, the Western-backed ruling party continues to spar politically with Hezbollah, an Iranian- and Syrian-backed militant group with several members in Parliament. The factions are engaged in fierce debate over a U.N. tribunal expected to indict several Hezbollah leaders.

Many Lebanese people, however, say renewed clashes with Israel are far more likely than a return to civil strife. Rumors of an upcoming war have been circulating for months.

And when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Lebanon's southern border with Israel last month, tens of thousands of supporters cheered as he vowed that Israel would one day "disappear."

Farther north at a bus stop in one of Beirut's many busy shopping districts, locals were not as convinced that Lebanon's three years of relative peace with Israel has to end in renewed clashes.

Elio, a 17-year-old high school student, said he had to take his exams early this year because school administrators were afraid of a new war with Israel. But Elio said he thinks at least some of it is only hype.

"I have been hearing rumors all summer: There will be war tomorrow. There will be war tomorrow," he said. "I don't see any signs of war."

Dr. Tohme, at the Beirut Beauty Clinic, was more skeptical about the future. He said as long as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians continues, there will be instability in Lebanon.

But for now, he said, new patients continue to visit Lebanon for plastic surgery, despite rising political tensions. "I think if they give us peace at the end," he said, "we can do magic."

© Copyright 2010 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.

http://magazine.fourseasons.com/concierge_recommends/middle_east_africa/beirut/concierge_recommends_beirut_lebanon/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/gallery/2010/nov/17/lebanon-beirut-photographs#/?picture=368703549&index=0

2 Articles see also Beirut on a budget on right

http://www.eturbonews.com/19666/lebanon-bouncing-back

Look. You can almost see Beirut

Just two hours from the capital of Lebanon, you can enjoy some good-quality skiing. Minty Clinch reports

Sunday, 28 November 2010

"Ah, GSQ," said Sharbel, my host at the San Antonio guesthouse in Mzaar, the closest ski resort to Beirut.

Enthusiasm is Lebanon's default reaction to strangers, but God Save Queens – for that is what GSQ stands for – are not often singled out for such a heart-warming welcome. Or so I thought, but this was early in my long weekend in a holiday playground with myths to explode.

Lebanon is no stranger to explosions or to glamour. The French Mandate in the early part of the 20th century left a second language and added to an existing heritage of great cooking and quality wines from the Beqaa Valley. More recently, a country that has been a melting pot for religions and cultures for at least 5,000 years has endured a bitter civil war (1975-1990), followed by further decades of repercussions as neighbours failed to come to terms with Israel. Lebanon is edgily peaceful nowadays and keen to show its commercial acumen and taste for high living to visitors who are arriving in rapidly increasing numbers.

The country is no stranger to skiing either, again with a Gallic connection because it was popular with the French from the mid-1920s. They accessed the slopes by donkey, with villagers carrying their skis. Today, there are half a dozen resorts in the Lebanon Range, which runs parallel to the coast, but only Cedars and Mzaar have the scope to attract international skiers. The season runs from December to April, but the southerly latitude can shorten it at either end in poor snow years.

In GSQ terms, the sport goes back to the Second World War, when soldiers on leave from North Africa headed to Beirut by train. Some went to Cedars of Lebanon on trips organised by the Army, with tuition by such 1936 Winter Olympians as Jimmy Riddell. Others rented leather boots and hickory skis in town for six shillings a day, hitched to the resort almost 80 miles to the north and hacked up and down as best they could.

Today, Cedars is disappointingly short of the iconic trees that are cunningly used in promotional material. Replanting is a national priority – the cedar appears on the Lebanese flag – but they grow painfully slowly. The new plantations at the Cedars resort stretch down into the valley, but massed cedar wood souvenirs in the shops suggest its future, too, is in jeopardy.

In a ski area that rises from 2,000m to 3,088m, what you see is what you get. The lifts fan out from the base station into the upper reaches of a wide open bowl. The first T-bars, installed in 1953, still work, supplemented in 2005 by triple chairs. Comfort aside, it doesn't matter which you use. They all lead to the same evenly pitched slopes, perfect rip-it-up terrain for skiers and boarders of all standards.

With the regular lifts to the upper slopes closed on the quiet February weekday when I visited, I approached the ancient one-man chair controlled by the army. "It's shut," the guard said firmly, but a £5 supplement to the £20 day pass persuaded him otherwise. As you approach the landing area, the lift plunges round at high speed, making it near impossible for those lacking military agility to download on to a slippery platform. However, the white-knuckle moment was worth it for high traverses, impressive rock-scapes and untracked spring snow.

Mzaar, above the village of Faraya and 25 miles from Beirut, is Lebanon's modest answer to the Three Valleys. With the main village at Junction as the focus, a chairlift goes up to Dome Jabal El Dib for the sweeping descent to Warde, a hamlet with its own nursery lifts. Another chair accesses red and black runs to La Cabane. In the other direction from Junction, there are lifts to the hotel zone, including the ski-in, ski-out Intercontinental.

Eleven, a contemporary boutique hotel, is another chic choice, whereas the San Antonio is more affordable than luxurious. Ron Sayegh, website designer and ski fanatic, has made it his mission to spread the Skileb word, especially in the Gulf States, but also in Saudi Arabia and Russia. Largely due to his efforts, Mzaar is now pleasingly international. It is also an easy day trip from Beirut, which now has convenient flights from Heathrow with BMI, glitzy hotels and mouth-watering restaurants.

My weekend in the new Four Seasons, overlooking the marina and landscaped gardens that stretch down to the sea, ticked all the boxes. On top of skiing, I visited the Roman ruins at Baalbek, the Ksara winery in the Beqaa, the crusader castle at Byblos, grottos at Jeita and Lebanon's only golf course. I worked up an appetite and revelled in dinners at Al Dente, an Aladdin's cave Italian in the Relais & Chateaux Albergo, Eau de Vie; top-notch French food at the Phoenicia; and Sydney's, named after a legendary bartender and open 24/7, at the Vendôme.

On a ski trip to Lebanon, don't bank on losing weight.

Compact Facts

How to get there

Cox & Kings (020-7873 5000; coxandkings.co.uk) offers four nights at the Four Seasons from £1,445 per person, including return flights with BMI, private transfers and B&B. A six-night group tour, taking in Beirut, Tyre, Sidon, Baalbek, Zahle, Anjar, the Ksara winery and Byblos, costs from £1,095 per person, including return flights, B&B, transport and guide. Skileb (00 961 323 6623; skileb.com) offers day trips to Mzaar from £35, including transport, equipment and lift pass, or longer stays by arrangement. BMI (0870 607 0555; flybmi.com) flies daily from Heathrow from £427.

Lebanon Attracts 17.8% More Tourists in First Nine Months

Lebanon attracted 17.8 percent more tourists in the first nine months of the year compared with the same period in 2009, the Ministry of Economy and Trade said.

Some 1.69 million tourists visited the country in the first three quarters, ahead of predictions, the ministry said in an e- mailed report today.

Beirut’s international airport handled 4.24 million passengers, or about 12 percent more travelers than in the previous year.

Foreign visitors to Lebanon will exceed 2 million this year, up from 1.85 million in 2009, Tourism Minister Fady Abboud said in a May 21 interview. Tourism revenue will rise to $8.5 billion from $7.2 billion over the same period, he said.

Bloomberg.

Lebanon visitors rise by 18 percent in November
16 December 2010

BEIRUT: The research department at Lebanon’s Tourism Ministry said Wednesday that the number of visitors coming to Lebanon in the month of November 2010 reached 163, 833, compared to 138, 940 visitors that visited the Mediterranean nation during the month of November in 2009, recording an increase of 17.92 percent. According to the research department’s statistics the number of Arab visitors increased by 8.42 percent and their number reached 72, 207. According to the figures, Jordanian nationals represented 33 percent of the total number of Arab tourists who came to Lebanon, followed by Saudi citizens (15, 769) and Iraqi nationals (10,734). The department also said that the number of European visitors reached 38,660, with French tourists ranking first (7,797), followed by Britons (4,386) and Germans (4,364). The research department added that the number of Asian arrivals was 29,315. American tourists, according the research department, reached 15, 301. Meanwhile, Fadi Abboud, Lebanon’s tourism minister, said that the total number of tourists to the country exceeded 2 million by the end of November 2010 and is expected to reach 2.3 million by the end of 2010 – The Daily Star

© Copyright The Daily Star 2010

http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidDS16122010_dsart46%285%29

Lebanese tourism sector resilient despite political tensions
Total number of tourists in 2010 expected to be up 24.5 percent on last year
By Dana Halawi
Daily Star staff

BEIRUT: Despite mounting political tensions over the outcome of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the outgoing and incoming tourism activities in Lebanon are witnessing remarkable growth, according to travel and tourism agents interviewed by The Daily Star.


“Our outgoing and incoming tourism programs are fully booked for the coming two weeks and we are expecting a very rewarding tourism season,” said owner and manager of Five Stars tours Hassan Daher.


Daher said his company is organizing special tours to a variety of locations inside Lebanon in order to promote the country by using his new “Know your country” slogan, not just in this season but throughout the year. “We are trying to come up with new ideas to help attract more tourists,” he said. He added that the reason behind his new idea is the fact that Lebanon still needs better promotion. “We believe that the Tourism Ministry must also help in promoting Lebanon’s tourism sector, not only during holidays but throughout the year as well.”


Daher said that tours inside Lebanon are usually targeted by foreigners as well as Lebanese. “We have also started to witness an increase in the demand for tours to ski resorts during the past week,” he said.


A couple of weeks ago ski resorts owners in the mountains of Lebanon were worried that drought would drive away business, until finally prayers were answered as heavy rain hit the country and brought the first snowfall of winter. “We are expecting a further increase of demand on ski resorts trips,” he said.


Daher added that political tensions did not affect his business and argued that people usually do not worry much about security issues when making reservations to other countries because they can usually get back their money if some serious unexpected events take place. “We are the ones who will be mostly affected if any security problems come up because we have commitments with travel agents and tour organizers outside the country,” he noted.


Daher’s comments were echoed by owner and general manager of Tania Travel Georges Petrakian who said that people’s decisions to book holidays are not usually affected by political discourses and tensions as most citizens have become accustomed to these issues as the country has gone through a very difficult period over the last 35 years. “There is a lot of demand on offers to various European and Arab destinations but what we really need currently is a settlement between the different political parties for us to keep up the good work and business,” he said.



Petrakian said his agency focuses mostly on outgoing tours and not incoming ones since they are not too profitable for him. He believes that Europeans are the ones who are mostly attracted to tours inside Lebanon “because they appreciate cultural monuments.”


A statement issued by Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud last week said that the number of European tourists coming to Lebanon increased by around 15 percent this year.


“This reflects the great potential of Lebanon in attracting tourists from all over the world when the political and security situation is stable,” it stated.


Abboud added that flight reservations to Lebanon increased by around 17 percent this month compared to the same period last year.


However, he said that while he expected better tourism activity for the year overall, Ramadan falling in the middle of summer had interrupted the season. He also added that the arrival of a number of Arab tourists after the end of Ramadan compensated for the slowdown to a certain extent.


Also, president of the association of travel and tourism agents Jean Abboud previously announced that the total number of tourists is expected to reach 2.3 million by the end of 2010, which is equivalent to an increase of 24.5 percent. Another statement issued by the head of touristic federation, Jean Beyrouthy, said that hotels reservations for Christmas and New Year exceeded 70 percent in Beirut and reached around 50 percent in other areas. “The hotel reservation rate in Beirut is similar to that recorded during the same period of last year,” it added.


Beyrouthy’s statistics were confirmed by head of incoming operations at Wild Discovery, Jihad Abaji, who said that hotels reservations in the mountains reached around 50 percent. “We still do not know how much it is going to be exactly because some people call and reserve at the last moment in mountains hotels and chalets for Christmas and New Year,” he said.


Beyrouthy argued that the tourism season would have recorded even better results if it was not for the sporadic political convulsions which have affected the overall economic performance.

New bank card seen as boosting Lebanon's tourism sector
By Tamara Qiblawi
Daily Star staff
Tuesday, December 21, 2010


BEIRUT: Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud touted Monday Bank of Beirut’s new “Lebanon on my Mind” bank card as exemplary private sector support for an “undervalued” tourism sector.

“Government spending on the Lebanese tourism sector remains below required standards, especially in promoting and advertising tourism,” Abboud said during a joint news conference with Bank of Beirut chairman Salim Sfeir.

“The Tourism Ministry’s budget is very small and does not correspond at all with the importance of the tourism sector and its returns to the national economy,” he added. The minister stressed that budget allocation toward tourism advertising pales greatly in comparison to neighboring countries such as Turkey and Egypt, whose advertising budget totals $100 million and $40 million respectively.

Abboud’s comments came amid widespread speculation that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s impending indictment has dealt a significant blow to tourist traffic this holiday season.

However, the minister has repeatedly brushed such speculation off. “For the New Year festivities, hotels in, at least, Beirut and some of the mountains are shocker block full,” Abboud told The Daily Star.

He said that there has been a considerable expansion in the tourist market in 2010, with 1,000 additional hotel rooms having been constructed and a 17.6 percent increase in the number of tourists since 2009 according to November 2010 figures. “It’s absolutely incredible,” said Abboud.

The minister believes that the new Bank of Beirut card will make a considerable contribution to the tourism sector by easing the financial burdens of Lebanon’s tourists.

“The role of the private sector comes as a cornerstone of support of Lebanon’s tourism and its launching to the rest of the world,” said Abboud.

The new bank card, rhythmically entitled “Lubnan Aal Bel,” or “Lebanon on my mind,” will fund and promote national tourism. It will be denominated only in Lebanese pounds, as part of a drive to support the Central Bank’s drive to de-dollarize the economy, or to stimulate the circulation of Lebanon’s national currency.

“Large portions” of Lubnan Aal Bel’s proceeds will go toward supporting tourism projects, said Sfeir.

Lubnen Aal Bel card holders will also be afforded discounts and other benefits at hospitality service venues nationwide. It is designed to be readily available to Lebanese expatriates, residents and foreign tourists and provide incentive for a growing tourist market to be exploited, according to Bank of Beirut officials.

Middle East Airlines will throw its weight behind the project by providing extensive advertising through its in-flight magazine Cedar Wings, said the national airline’s Director General Mohammad al-Hout, who also gave an address at the press conference.


________________
This sounds really cool... I wonder what it will look like.

Lebanon Welcomed Over 2 Million Tourists in 2010 – A Record Breaking Number

Lebanon welcomed over two million tourists in the first 11 months of this year, a record number despite months of political tensions, according to the latest figures released by the Ministry of Tourism this month. This number does not include that number of tourists during the month of December 2010.
The figures show that the number of tourist arrivals was 17.6 percent higher than the same period last year and is “an all time record high,” according to Bank Audi’s Lebanon Weekly Monitor, quoting latest ministry figures. Arab visitors accounted for about 41 percent of the total, followed by Europeans with 25 percent.
Reasons for this boom are obvious for us. BNL witnessed it all and made sure to have reported it all.
Despite political turmoil and instability on many levels, Lebanon still enjoyed its reputation for being a major party city in the world. Concerts, festivals and DJ events packed people’s to do list on a weekly basis, welcoming big international names at international festivals including Baableck, Byblos, Bettedine among others… the opening of big fashion brands like Reem Acra, Louis Vuitton and Christian Louboutin, Balenciaga and more… Fashion shows, dance parties, beach parties and the list goes on…
This among the great weather the country boasts, beautiful mountains and clear seas… should make Lebanon a destination to see in 2011

Tourist Arrivals To Lebanon Up 17% At 2.17M In '10 Vs 1.85M In '09
-Dow Jones

Tourism finally hit the 2million mark, well done!

so we finally broke this record ?? :cheers:

We could have had a bigger number but due to some political problems this number was frozen for a while. Hopefully next year lebanon will face a larger number of tourists though i doubt it big time. ( well everyone knows why )

so we finally broke this record ?? :cheers:

We could have had a bigger number but due to some political problems this number was frozen for a while. Hopefully next year lebanon will face a larger number of tourists though i doubt it big time. ( well everyone knows why )



I hope it's 4 million next year :) Lets just stay hopeful at least

^^ 4 million is going a bit too far, that almost doubling this years number. I would say 2.5 million-2.8million if nothing goes wrong.

Im going rto guess 2.4 or 2.45 this year

Activity at Beirut airport falls slightly in January
By The Daily Star

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

BEIRUT: The number of passengers arriving at Rafik Hariri International Airport in January 2011 fell slightly compared to the same month of 2010, the Civil Aviation Authority said Monday.


According to the statistics, the number of passengers arriving at the airport in January reached 155,533, a drop of 1.04 percent.


But the figures showed that the number of passengers leaving the airport that month rose by 0.73 percent to reach 210,035.


This means that the total number of passengers using that airport that month reached 396,735.


The private jets using Beirut airport in January fell by 18.31 percent while cargo transport from the airport slipped by 8.44 percent.


The number of Lebanese, Arab and foreign commercial flights (both departure and arrival) in January reached 7,925, an increase of 13.45 percent.



The number of incoming flights that month reached 2,258, an increase of 7.22 percent while the outgoing flights reached 2,259, an increase of 6.91 percent.


The activity at Beirut airport improved in 2008, 2009 and 2010 despite the deep political differences and occasional security incidents.


The Tourism Ministry said the number of Arab and foreign tourists in 2010 reached more than 2 million, an increase of more than 10 percent compared to the same period of 2009.


Tour operators argue that foreign tourists will always come to Lebanon to spend their summer and winter vacation provided that the security situation remains stable. – The Daily Star

Lebanon posts world's 22nd highest growth rate in 2010 tourist arrivals
By The Daily Star

Monday, February 21, 2011

BEIRUT: Preliminary figures issued by the United Nations World Tourism Organization indicate that Lebanon posted the 22nd highest growth rate in tourist arrivals in the world during 2010 with a 17.6 percent increase from the previous year.


Lebanon ranks in 12th place worldwide in terms of tourist arrivals, as reported by Lebanon This Week, the economic publication of the Byblos Bank Group.


In comparison, tourist arrivals grew by 6.7 percent globally, by 5.3 percent in advanced economies and by 8.2 percent in emerging markets. Regionally, tourist arrivals increased by 14 percent in the Middle East and rose by 5.8 percent in North Africa. They increased by 6.4 percent in Africa, by 3.2 percent in Europe, by 7.7 percent in the Americas, and by 12.6 percent in Asia and the Pacific.


Globally, Lebanon tied with Bosnia and Herzegovina. It ranked ahead of Papua New Guinea and Kiribati, which posted growth rates of 17.5 percent each, and came behind Egypt, which posted a 17.9 percent increase in tourist arrivals. Regionally, Lebanon was the fifth-fastest growing tourism market, coming ahead of Saudi Arabia, which posted a rise of 13.3 percent in tourist arrivals, Morocco (11.5 percent), the U.A.E. (9 percent), Turkey (5.8 percent), Cyprus (1.8 percent), and Tunisia (-0.3 percent). Lebanon came behind Egypt (17.9 percent), Jordan (23 percent), Palestine (35.3 percent), and Syria (42.5 percent).


The World Tourism Organization projected tourist arrivals to grow between 4 percent and 5 percent globally and by 7 percent to 10 percent in the Middle East in 2011.


In parallel, the WTO said tourism receipts in Lebanon totaled $6.8 billion in 2009, up 16.4 percent from 2008 and constituting the second highest growth rate in the Arab world and the highest when excluding countries with tourism receipts of less than $1 billion. Further, Lebanon ranked in 34th place globally in terms of tourism receipts in 2009, behind Taiwan ($6.81 billion) and ahead of Morocco ($6.6 billion); while it ranked third regionally behind Egypt ($10.8 billion) and the U.A.E. ($7.4 billion).


In parallel, Lebanon This Week reported that a total of 877,909 persons used hotels and furnished apartments in Lebanon and spent 2,106,277 nights in such facilities in 2010, constituting increases of 14.1 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively, from 2009 figures.


As a result, clients stayed an average of 2.4 nights per person last year compared to 2.54 nights in 2009 and 2.29 nights in 2008. The 2010 figures, which are compiled by the Tourism Ministry, constitute a new peak in visitors and nights spent, but reflect a slowdown in growth from 2009, when the number of persons who used hotels and furnished apartments grew by 21.2 percent and the number of nights spent increased by 34.7 percent.



Visitors came from 166 countries and spent a total of $126.4 million in 2010 on lodging in hotels and furnished apartments, a decline of 38 percent from $203.4 million in 2009, and compared to $87 million in 2008, $59 million in 2007 and $69 million in 2006. Arab nationals, including Lebanese citizens, accounted for 69.8 percent of total clients and of 64.5 percent of aggregate nights in 2010, down from 73.4 percent of total clients and 70.2 percent of aggregate nights in 2009, and 74.4 percent of total clients and 70.6 percent of aggregate nights spent in 2008.


The distribution of clients by country at hotels and furnished apartments indicates that Lebanon accounted for 171,409 clients, or 19.5 percent of the total, down from 23.5 percent in 2009. It was followed by Saudi Arabia with 107,888 clients (12.3 percent), Jordan with 61,917 (7.1 percent), Iraq with 56,801 (6.5 percent), Syria with 48,348 (5.5 percent) and Kuwait with 46,482 (5.3 percent). Lebanon accounted for 18 percent of the total number of nights spent, up from 16.7 percent in 2009, followed by Saudi Arabia with 11 percent, Jordan with 5.9 percent, Iraq with 5.8 percent, and Syria with 5.3 percent.


The length of stay per person for Arab nationals shows that nationals from Morocco stayed an average of 8.66 nights per person, followed by Libya (3.46), Tunisia (3.27), Oman (3.24), Algeria (2.81), Yemen (2.56), Sudan (2.52), Bahrain (2.32), Syria (2.31), Qatar (2.27), Iraq (2.16), Saudi Arabia (2.16), Egypt (2.1), Jordan and Kuwait (2 each).


The report has separate entries for Abu Dhabi and Dubai, where nationals from Abu Dhabi totaled 816 and spent 1.76 nights per person, and those from Dubai reached 1,761 and spent 1.73 nights per person.


In parallel, the length of stay per person for non-Arab visitors shows that nationals from Belarus stayed an average of 40.7 nights per person, followed by Moldova (32.53), Uzbekistan (19.81), Ukraine (13.6), Kyrgyzstan (11.6) and Nicaragua (8).


The top five countries accounted for 50.8 percent of clients and 46.1 percent of total nights spent, while the top 10 countries accounted for 71.1 percent of clients and 64.4 percent of total nights spent in 2010. –The Daily Star

Tourism Ministry unveils TV ad campaign
By The Daily Star

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

BEIRUT: The Tourism Ministry unveiled Tuesday a television advertising campaign promoting travel to Lebanon with the intention of broadcasting the new spots on local and international satellite channels.


During a news conference at the ministry’s offices, caretaker Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud screened three commercials, all produced by advertising agency Impact BBDO, under the slogan “Lebanon Blues.”


Abboud said the implication was that “Lebanon is a medicine that cures the blues.”


The spots aim to highlight the “beautiful contradictions” in Lebanon, said Michel Habis, the minister’s adviser. He said that the short distances between the coast and ski resorts, as well as the proximity between Christian and Muslim places of worship were among the features to be emphasized.


Abboud proposed that the advertisements air on CNN, the BBC and Arab and Lebanese satellite stations.


He said the campaign could be funded by the private sector and Casino du Liban, which has pledged support, according to Abboud.



However, no budget information was provided at the news conference.


Abboud said talks with broadcasters were still ongoing.


The ministry had previously proposed an airport tax of LL5,000 to support tourism promotion in Lebanon, Abboud said.


However, the airport tax proposal could not be approved due to the failure of successive Lebanese governments to pass a national budget. The country has been without a national budget since former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination in 2005 sparked a series of political crises that have severely crippled government functions.


And with Abboud’s role as caretaker minister pending the formation of a new cabinet, it remains unclear if the campaign will be implemented as proposed.


But Abboud remains optimistic.


“I am pleased to present this promotional campaign as a gift to the incoming government, as a message of hope and optimism to the Lebanon of tomorrow,” he said. – The Daily Star

Travel: Beirut

Published Date: 01 March 2011
By KENNY FARQUHARSON

A CHAUFFEURED four-by-four with tinted windows pulls up at the kerb a few feet ahead of me and out steps a glossy couple dressed entirely in black and bling. They walk up the steps of a French-colonial mansion and ring the bell.
The door opens immediately and an elegant young Asian woman in a black cocktail dress welcomes them with a smile and ushers them in. Behind her, past a heavy velvet drape, is the unmistakable tinkle of glasses and conversation, with a lounge lizard
soundtrack. The door closes.

Curiosity gets the better of me. I walk up the steps, press the button and try to look like someone who comes here all the time, wherever here may be. The Asian woman opens the door and regards me with a slightly quizzical tilt of the head. I muster my biggest smile, wish her a good evening and walk in.

Inside it is like a training camp for the gorgeous-people Olympics. The dimly-lit lounge is furnished in black and gold, filled with people and money. The handbags have pricetag logos and the clothes – uniformly black – have the cut and lustre only serious cash can buy. The Ashrafieh district of Lebanon's capital is full of high-end bars, restaurants and members' clubs, but this is the most opulent I've seen. I take a stool at the bar and try to look inconspicuous in my H&M suit.

Like a luxury yacht, the club is both vulgar and classy. East Beirut women are beautiful and glamorous, but in an overwrought way. Stick thin; nails so long they can hardly pick up a cocktail glass; Cleopatra mascara; noses sculpted to perfection. Men are only slightly less primped, all displaying three-day stubble. Lebanon, I've been told, has more cosmetic surgery per capita than any other country in the world. I can well believe it.

The two women sitting next to me have five mobile phones between them, set out in a neat row next to their cocktail glasses. A huge man with a Rolex as big as an ashtray and a cigar as thick as his neck joins them, but cannot find a seat. He gives me a look, carelessly shelling pistachios with one huge hand. Self-respect dictates that I take my time to slowly finish my margarita, then pause for a beat, before heading hotfoot for the door.

I go for a wander among Ashrafieh's excited Saturday night crowds. A green Lamborghini is stopped in traffic. A small boy aged about eight, dressed in shorts and a cartoon T-shirt, starts wiping the windscreen with a squeegee. His tiny sister, aged no more than three and barefoot in a summer dress, taps on the side window and holds out her hand. The Lamborghini engine roars a warning but the kids don't budge.

At the bottom of the Rue Monot a Lebanese army truck is blocking the road. There are young soldiers in the back. Some are leaning on their guns, smoking languidly and watching the women drift by on implausible heels. Other soldiers are more nervous,
their eyes darting around, rifles gripped, postures alert. I stop a man and ask what the soldiers are doing here. "A big general," he says, with a knowing grin, "he comes here tonight, for drink and for relaxation and for sex."

It doesn't need the presence of the army to remind you of Beirut's troubled past. On the old front line between the Christian east of the city and the Muslim west you still come across bombed-out buildings, the concrete peppered with thousands of bullet holes. The shell of the old Holiday Inn, a favourite haunt of snipers, towers over the city as a high-rise momento mori. Downtown, next to the biggest Sunni mosque, is a marquee covering the grave of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, assassinated in 2005. Many blame the murder on Hezbollah, which last month became a major force in the new Lebanese government.

During my stay I am reading De Niro's Game by Rawi Hage, a novel about the Lebanese civil war that razed much of this city to the ground between 1975 and 1990, leaving up to a quarter of a million dead. The conflict included the murderous rampage by Christian Phalangists through the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila, which still sit on the city's outskirts. As recently as 2006, Israel bombarded the poorer Muslim quarters controlled by Hezbollah in the south of the city, leaving large areas in ruins and many dead.

And yet the atmosphere in Beirut is laid-back and civil, with former enemies living, working and socialising cheek by jowl. In the popular Gouraud Street you can find Muslim restaurants where women wearing veils party to live traditional Arab music next door to rowdy DJ bars full of students from the American University getting hammered on cocktails.

But beneath the relaxed hedonism and courteous hospitality there is an undercurrent that is hard to pin down. It is not unease or anxiety – it's more like an alertness, an awareness that at any time some elements outwith Lebanese control could again turn this city into a proxy battleground for the Middle East's bigger players.

A man in the tiny but very cool Torino Express bar tells me how two friends, both Jews, went on a hiking holiday to southern Lebanon and were welcomed with open arms by the local Muslims, going home with Hezbollah T-shirts. But such adventures are not recommended – the Foreign Office advises tourists to avoid the south of the country, as well as Beirut's Palestinian camps. And it pays to keep one eye on the news during a visit to keep track of political developments in the region, and to inform the British embassy of your whereabouts.

All of which adds an agreeable edge to the luxurious lifestyle Beirut can offer, with its echoes of 1950s glamour in the beach clubs that once attracted Hollywood film stars and, bringing luxury right up to date, the marvellous Le Gray hotel built by Scottish entrepreneur Gordon Campbell Gray, whose portfolio also includes One Aldwych in London.
Le Gray is both a design statement (cool minimalist decor, infinity pool on the roof, objets d'art everywhere) and a vote of confidence in the future of this city as a top-class tourist destination, despite the uncertainties. From here it's a short stroll to Centrale, a contender for my favourite bar in the world, housed in a giant metal cylinder perched on an East Beirut rooftop.

Of course, Beirut is not all glam and there are many pleasures that don't involve a cocktail shaker. In the dusty boxes of second-hand volumes in Khyat's Bookshop in Muslim West Beirut, elderly owner Habib, who for some reason has dyed what little hair he has left a bright shade of purple, questions me closely on my literary tastes before saying he has the perfect book for me. To my astonishment, after a long rummage, he comes up with a rare first edition of Do You Love Me? by Scots psychologist RD Laing, a book I have long coveted. I have made a new friend.

I leave Habib's shop, buy a pitta with humus and wander the leafy, sun-dappled area where in the late 1980s John McCarthy and Brian Keenan spent many months chained to radiators. The day's news is full of heightened tensions between Israel and Iran. I feel more relaxed than I've felt for a long, long time.

This article was first published in Scotland On Sunday, 27 February, 2011

I have serious issues with article referring to Beirut as east and west...serious issues.

Other then that, this a really odd article lol

Is this the news campaign?

GeM2je0uuoI

Boring!!!

what ! boring? NO !

Its Fanastic I love it. simple, classy and not tacky like the others.

But... there is normally the logo for the Tourism Ministry at the end of each video... soo not sure.. but I still love it.

I remember the Video but the music is different..That hot chick walking everywhere is old..I saw this and wondered ..Maybe they are repackaging it..

the song is awful....and what's makin it boring!!

What about these TV ads? They are targeting Europeans and Americans:

ILgSXkbY_g0

6ejQeEyDx1A

Siovanti2u0

^^ yes,these are the latest ones.

One word: SMART!!!!!

STR Reports Global Hotel Performance in February 2011


Middle East / Africa

The Middle East/Africa region's occupancy ended the month with a 12.6% decrease to 56.7%, its ADR rose 17.1% to US$188.53, and its RevPAR went up 2.3% to US$106.92.

"This month we see the impact of the demonstrations and political changes across the Middle East and Northern Africa," Ms. Randall said. "Northern Africa dropped substantially in occupancy as visitors stayed away. Egypt's occupancy dropped 78.5% to a monthly average of 15.9%. Across Lebanon, the recent collapse of the national unity government and the indictments by the Hariri tribunal have impacted the stability of the market and resulted in a drop in occupancy to a monthly average of 39% for February. In Bahrain, occupancy levels stayed at 61%, dropping only 17%. With the recent developments in Bahrain and the enforcement of a no-fly zone across Libya, the full impact of recent events remains to be seen."

Year-on-Year Comparison Highlights from Key Market Performers for February 2011 in US$

- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, experienced the largest occupancy increase, rising 27.3% to 74.1%.

- Two markets posted double-digit occupancy decreases: Cairo, Egypt (-80.1% to 14.6%), and Beirut, Lebanon (-46.7% to 37.4%).

- Two markets achieved double-digit ADR increases: Cairo (+24.8% to US$157.42 and Cape Town, South Africa (+13.6% to US$174.75).

- Beirut fell 22.7% in ADR to US$187.05, reporting the largest decrease in that metric.

- Four markets experienced RevPAR increases of more than 15%: Abu Dhabi (+21.4% to US$164.22); Cape Town (+19.6% to US$128.35); Muscat, Oman (+18.7% to US$210.81); and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (+17.4% to US$210.18).

http://www.asiatraveltips.com/news11/243-HotelIndustryPerformance.shtml

^^ yes,these are the latest ones.

One word: SMART!!!!!

Nasawiya doesn't think so! The one with the guy picturing leb women is being seen as sexist. I agree after reading their points, the commercial shows sexually liberated women but these same women are also undermined by our own law (family status, religious, citizenship etc). So I am with them, advertise Lebanese women as being a "main attraction" like other countries do... but doing it while they are technically oppressed is in bad taste.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb2/Htlebmn/BeirutMuseum_415.jpg- underground Museum

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb2/Htlebmn/BeirutMan_415.jpg

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb2/Htlebmn/BeirutCafe415.jpg

Beirut in the spring has the best climate in the world. Just a little rain to keep the dust down and average temperatures of about 20 degrees. I recently sat in Nejmeh Square at a café overlooking the parliament building which glowed in the morning sun.

The parliament is an unpretentious stone structure from the Twenties that resembles a large provincial bank. You'd never guess it's built on top of the remains of the oldest Roman law school in the world.

Nor would you guess that Nejmeh Square formed part of the Green Line during Lebanon's long civil war.

Photographs show the streets that radiate out from it reduced to rubble, with trees growing out of the debris. Twenty years on, the centre of old
Beirut is so spruced up it's difficult to tell the gorgeously restored from the gorgeously built from scratch.

One curious fringe benefit from the government's massive restoration project has been the new museum at St George's Cathedral. Digging down to stabilise this 18th-century church after the peace of 1991, the restorers worked through layer upon layer of remains from previous buildings: an Ottoman coffee shop, medieval tombs, a mosaic floor from Byzantine times, a Roman road. Before the cathedral was fully restored, a subterranean museum was hollowed out below to display six previous layers of occupation.

And that was where I had been that morning. The museum had just opened to the public and Joseph, my guide, had insisted that I look round while he went to find our driver. This took some time which was why I sat at the Café Place de l'Etoile watching two businessmen sharing a bottle of white wine. In the distance church bells were competing with the muezzin. Sunlight on the wine glasses made the amber liquid glow.

Suddenly I lost all interest in my own espresso. "Here I am, vouchsafed!" cried little Joseph as he arrived. "Now where shall we go next?" "Where can we drink Lebanese wine?" I asked. "Ah," he smiled. "I know the place."

An hour later we were driving down the eastern side of the Mount Lebanon range, a white haze hanging over the Bekaa Valley. The first place we stopped was Zahlé, an 18th-century Christian settlement with pantiled roofs, outdoor restaurants along the Berdawni river and a statue of the Virgin Mary on top of a 54-metre concrete tower. I eagerly snapped her beatific face with my new telephoto lens as we waited for lunch.

We were served traditional mezze. Joseph ordered arak, a Lebanese version of raki. He drank it in a glass filled with ice cubes, the clear liquid turning milky on contact. I asked if they served local wine. "Of course," said the waiter. "Ksara Estate is no distance from here. So too is Tanail, where the Jesuit Brothers still farm." They brought me a glass of Château Ksara, which Joseph assured me was made from Chardonnay grapes grown nearby. I am always a sucker for the idea that I'm breathing in the very air that warms the grapes.

An hour later we drove south along a flat plain filled with vines to Château Ksara, Lebanon's biggest winery. Joseph had arranged for me to be given a brief history by Reina. "In 1857 Jesuit monks inherited this land and in 1878 Father Wuillamoz began growing grapes. But it was in 1898 that a great discovery was made by orphans working for Father Wuillamoz. Come with me."

Reina led us behind the lobby into a long series of tunnels. They ran for two kilometres. "The Romans dug these tunnels but until one of the orphans followed a fox into a crack in the rock no one knew they were here." The Roman Grotto formed the basis of Château Ksara's storage area.

The tunnels were full of bottles, some so drenched in dust you could hardly make out the shape of the racks. When the first wines were laid down here Lebanon was part of the Ottoman Caliphate. It would be another 20 years before it became part of the French Mandate and 45 years before independence.

After the tour Joseph and I joined Reina in the tasting room. We were probably more assiduous than was necessary but there are many wines to assess. "In the Bible," says Joseph, "the greatest thing Hosea can say about the Lord is that 'his name will be like the wine of Lebanon'." (I checked this later and it's true).

Of course I bought as many bottles as I thought I could seriously fly home. I have to admit that I slept on the way back to Beirut. It had been an excellent day, both above and below the surface of modern Lebanon.


London evening Standard

Lebanon sees decline in tourist numbers


BEIRUT: Rafik Hariri International Airport saw a 13.36 percent drop in arrivals during the first quarter of 2011 as compared to the first quarter of last year, Tourism Ministry statistics showed Wednesday.

The decrease in traveler traffic follows region-wide trends which saw a rapid drop in tourism following the Arab revolts. Cancellations rates for tourism packages neared 50 percent in Jordan and 40 percent in Syria, according to a report by the France International group.

The decline in passenger inflows was in large part due to a significant fall in the number of arrivals from other Arab countries. This March, the number of non-Lebanese Arab arrivals fell by 29.64 percent from March of last year.

The largest group of foreign arrivals at Beirut airport during the first quarter has been non-Arab Asians, namely Iranians, who made up 80 percent of those arrivals. Iranians celebrated the Persian New Year, Nowruz, last month, which likely accounted for the heightened traffic.

Arabs were the second largest group of foreign arrivals, with Jordanians making up the largest percentage of those passengers at 31 percent. Iraqis and Saudi Arabians ranked second and third, respectively.

Europeans were the third largest group of foreign travelers, with the French the biggest European group to arrive in Beirut



________________________

Dosent look like Lebanon will top 2 million tourists at this growing rate.

Beirut bounces back

April 14 2011 at 11:09am
By Sarah Barrell

Comment on this story
iol travel april 11 nt beirut solidere_CITY_E1

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Blend of old and modern

Why visit?

Beirut seems a world away from the Middle East now in the headlines. Lebanon might still be seeking a prime minister after the recent collapse of its government, but this is workaday stuff for this infamously battle-torn country. Since the Israeli bombings in 2006, the resilient capital has seen a period of peace.

Stand in the newly rebuilt downtown district and a sense of confidence is evident everywhere, from the gleaming rooftop pools of new hotels such as Le Gray and the Four Seasons to the pristine new Souks mega-mall that has lately welcomed Bond Street franchises. It’s a mind-boggling transformation for a city that didn’t even have a Starbucks until a few years ago.

Downtown has been renamed “Solidere” after the public-private development company that removed its bullet-riddled buildings, causing some locals to bemoan Beirut’s loss of heritage in the midst of the makeover.

For now, the bombed out Holiday Inn still stands like a cenotaph to the civil war, and there are plans for certain buildings to be kept as relics. Beirut’s fleet of battered 1970s Mercedes taxis has also escaped the Solidere treatment.

These glorious, bodywork-trailing beasts burn up and down the city’s sparkling new streets, often against the flow of traffic, paying little heed to the recently added signs, speed limits and traffic lights.

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Beirut’s traffic is now the craziest thing about a city where gentle Arab hospitality and Côte d’Azur-style bling combine to make it exciting and civilised. And spring is the best time to visit as the city’s outdoor clubs roll back their roofs and the beach lidos dust off their sun beds.

There are plans for a vast new park and private marina. The former will be a boon to Beirut’s concrete conurbation, as will the Garden of Forgiveness when it is completed. This green space will run partly along the former Green Line connecting mosques, churches and flood-lit Roman ruins. It’s currently halted around Martyr’s Square until a home is found for the military stationed there.

Don’t miss…

• The Solidere district. The immaculately renovated centre is a truly great place to stroll. Follow the streets radiating from Place de l’Etoile, taking in churches, mosques, excavated Roman baths, Parisian-style cafés and rebuilt neo-Ottoman buildings.

• The National Museum (beirut nationalmuseum.com). The highlights of this beautifully presented collection of archaeological treasures includes: perfectly preserved Roman mosaics; remarkably lifelike Bronze Age ivory ex-votos in animal forms; marble sculptures of cherubim from the fifth century BC; and a seventh-century BC terracotta funeral mask from Tyre. Don’t miss the hourly introductory film showing how the museum was reborn from a tragic pile of war-time rubble.

• Walk Beirut (bebeirut.org/walk.html). Tours on foot are rare in Beirut. This one is guided by recent university graduates and covers the remaining ravages of the civil war, Roman ruins, proud new Beirut buildings, and cool cafés.

• The Beirut Art Centre (beirutart center.org). A warehouse space in the industrial Jisr el-Wati district that has already become a hub for national and international contemporary art exhibitions in the two years since it opened. As well as two floors of gallery space, don’t miss the bookshop stacked with home-grown writings, graphic art and music plus a “mediathèque” (digital archives) of paintings, photographs, audio clips and artists’ biographies.

• Le Corniche. The closest thing Beirut has to a park. Take a sunset stroll along this seafront esplanade, buy a gritty coffee from one of the pushcart stalls and watch the people, from children playing in rock pools to the ranks of men smoking nargili (bubble pipes) over lightning-quick games of backgammon on the boardwalk.

• The Music Hall at the Starco Centre, Omar Daouk Street (00 961 3 807 555), a cinema-turned-cabaret venue that is a nightlife landmark. Book a booth, order some cocktails, sit back and enjoy a show that strives for diversity as much as glitz. Expect to see Lebanese gypsy-pop, glam rock cover bands, Egyptian belly dancing, traditional Iraqi drumming and even a full 25-piece mariachi band.

• Byblos. This seaside satellite town is Beirut’s beach playground, with a pretty fishing harbour and a crusader castle alongside Roman temples and Phoenician ruins. Many of the rare artefacts found at Beirut’s National Museum come from this site.

What’s new

Ayyam

Some would say that this commercial gallery, with sister spaces in Syria, Dubai and Cairo, has single-handedly pushed Middle Eastern art into the big-bucks global market. Even if you’re not a Saatchi or Christie’s buyer, Ayyam’s two slick Lebanon showrooms reflect the works of best-selling and emerging contemporary photographers, painters and sculptors. Details: ayyamgallery.com

Starch

This boutique, in the artisan-shop-stuffed Saifi Village district, annually selects up to seven new designers to show their collections. You’ll also find jewellery and accessories – even the shop is redecorated each year by a young designer. Current collections include industrial-cum-medieval silver and leather jewellery by Margherita (Ghita) Abi-Hanna, and floaty androgynous creations from design-duo Emily Cremona. Details: starchfoundation.org

St George’s Cathedral Crypt Museum

The city’s eight archaeological layers, from Hellenistic to Ottoman, are cleverly displayed along an exposed wall of the underground passage into this small museum. Inside, you can see the remains of six churches that date back 2 000 years. There are sandstone tombs, 18th-century frescos salvaged from the bombed out cathedral (complete with bullet holes), a section of Roman road, and a skylight looking up into the altar of this renovated Maronite church. Details: St George’s Cathedral, Place d’Etoiles.

MyBar

This see-and-be-seen cocktail and sushi bar is set above the oh-so-chic designer emporium Plum, one of those great Beirut places that relies on you knowing exactly where it is – accessed by what looks like the elevator to a posh apartment building on the edge of the new Souqs shopping area. Details: mybar.me

Basma

“Grandma”-style cooking served in a kitsch Franco-Lebanese building bordering the Gemmayzeh party district.

I loved the silky-smokey Baba Ghanoush and the fluffy potato and cheese baked kibbeh. There’s an outside terrace, but inside wins with tiled mosaic floors, 1950s French windows, velvet banquettes and little embroidered foot stools on which the glossy women clientele place their designer bags.

For all that, it’s a laid-back place, with nargili smoke and relaxed service. Details: Sasadi Building, Charles Malek Avenue (00 961 1 326 327). - Sunday Tribune

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Club scene expands to prepare for hot season
April 21, 2011 02:04 AM (Last updated: April 21, 2011 02:54 PM)
By Simona Sikimic
The Daily Star

BEIRUT: The newest edition to Beirut’s bustling clubbing scene officiallly opened its doors Tuesday, bringing with it a flutter of expectations about the upcoming summer season, which many club owners say could be the best on record.

Whisky Mist, housed in the Hotel Intercontinental Phoenicia, is the first international venture of the London-based club, which hosts royals such as Princes William and Harry, as well as celebrities like Rhianna, Paris Hilton and Harry Potter’s Emma Watson
It has made a name for itself by holding the wildest Tuesday and Sunday nights in London with American pop sensation Pussycat dolls set to rock the Beirut branch this Sunday night.

Choosing Beirut over other Middle East spots, the group of young entrepreneurs behind Whisky Mist is confident that the city is transforming into an international hotspot.

“We picked Lebanon because the people are cultured and educated … Beirut is flourishing and the big hotel and designer names are all opening,” said Marc Burton, one of the Whisky Mist owners.

“We have a lot of faith in the city and think the opportunity was something we just couldn’t turn down.”

Located on the site of the iconic Le Paon Rouge, the place to see and be seen in the 1960s and 1970s, Whisky Mist is looking to cash in on a location’s history to draw in around 2,000 clubbers each week, while remaining unfazed about meeting the same fate as the club, which was destroyed at the outbreak of the Civil War.

“We are entrepreneurs and that means taking certain risks some others would not, but we are confident and positive about the prospects,” said Burton, who has vowed to bring in leading American superstars and international DJs to the club.

Scenes of high-end debauchery have become synonymous with Beirut over the last few years as Lebanese expatriates and tourists flock to the city, keen to revel in the rooftop bars that open in early May and go on all through the long summer months.

Despite the turmoil in the region, the World Travel and Tourism Council estimated in March that the travel and tourism industry in Lebanon would grow further in 2011, directly contributing some $3.77billion to the economy or some 9.5 percent of GDP and generating over 120,000 jobs.

This optimism is mirrored by the industry and reflected by the string of new venue openings, including Pier 7, designed to be the largest club in the Levant, which are in the pipeline for this summer.

Downtown’s White nightclub, situated on top of the An-Nahar building, will also be moving to a “new revamped and larger venue” with a capacity of 1,500 standing, up from 900 at the old site.

“Of course the security situation is a concern, but we are optimists and we want to expand,” said Reem Beydoun, spokesperson for Addmind, which also operates the likes of Gem and Rococo. “There was a very high demand [some 180,000 patrons in 2010] and we decided that we should move to a larger building.

“Tourism has been growing and last summer we saw a lot more young people coming from Europe and America,” she added.

The programs on offer are adapting accordingly and expert cocktail makers, or mixologists, are being flown in from Amsterdam to redesign the drinks menu.

The old concept of hosting showbiz appearances is also out. Instead, “we are creating an integrated experience and putting on world class shows and theme nights,” Beydoun said.

One thing Addmind is definitelykeeping, however, is the old An-Nahar location, which will be transformed into Iris, a cocktail bar, lounge and restaurant, expected to broaden the group’s appeal and lure in an older clientele.

BIEL’s SkyBar, widely regarded as “the face” of the Beirut clubbing scene, will also be receiving a facelift this year, with the club undergoing an all out transformation ahead of the mid-June opening.

“Our winning formula won’t change and we will still bring in performers like [rapper] 50 Cent who performed at the closing, but, like every year, we will be improving and making SkyBar, even better,” said Malek Tambourgi, marketing manager of Sky Management which operates the venue.

However, there will be little room for increasing numbers as the rooftop club already hosted some 260,000 partygoers last year “and operated at full capacity throughout the season.”

Regional turmoil set to hurt summer tourism

BEIRUT: The absence of a government in Lebanon along with the security turmoil in neighboring Syria have started to weigh heavily on the Lebanese tourism sector where layoffs of part-time employees at hotels reached 20 percent, said Pierre Ashkar, head of the hotels owners association.

Ashkar explained that hotels employ a great number of part-timers during high seasons and at times when conferences are at their peak to fill the gaps in these establishments.

“But with the sharp drop in hotels reservations, we have no other choices but to end the services of part-timers in order to cut our expenses,” he told The Daily Star in an exclusive interview.
The political unrest in some Arab states and the absence of a Cabinet, according to Ashkar, have created a tense atmosphere translated into a drop in the average occupancy in Lebanon to 27 percent for the first quarter of 2011 compared to the first quarter of 2010.

“This drop in occupancy rate was paralleled with a fall of 53 percent in revenues in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the same period last year, which has undoubtedly affected the employment opportunities in this sector,” he said.

Ernst & Young’s benchmark survey of the Middle East hotel sector indicated that the average occupancy rate at hotels in Beirut was 47 percent in the first quarter of 2011 compared to 69 percent in the same period last year. It said that the occupancy rate at Beirut hotels was the 7th lowest among 21 markets in the region, while it was the 6th lowest in the first quarter last year.

Meanwhile, most hotels in Mount Lebanon and mainly in Bhamdoun and Aley remained closed for the time being due to the absence of tourists and reservations.

Ashkar explained that hotels in Mount Lebanon are usually either partly or fully reserved during that time.

But the regional turmoil and Lebanon’s internal political instability are impacting reservations in all areas which are, in turn, having a negative effect on the revenues and employment opportunities in this sector.

“We don’t have any reservations yet for the summer season and our manager has cut 50 percent of the staff,” said Lima Abdel Khalik, front office manager at Regent Palace Hariz furnished flats in Aley.
Abdel Khalik said that one week ago the occupancy rate stood at 5 percent only. “Even our own clients did not call to reserve yet,” she said.

Hotels in Brummana are also seeing a sharp drop in business.

“We still have no reservations at all for the summer season,” said Le Crillion Front Office Manager on condition of anonymity.

She said that the hotel was doing well last year but the situation is still not clear for this season. She also admitted that the hotel is still operating because the property is family owned and the owners live in the hotel.

“Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been difficult to cover the hotel’s expenses.”

With the exception of hotels, most restaurants and cafes in the town of Bhamdoun in Mount Lebanon remained closed due to the absence Arab tourists, most of whom own houses in this mountainous town.

Carlton Hotel owner Karam Abou Rjeily explained that his hotel works only around 45 days per year. “Most hotels in this area suffer and Carlton is still operating because the establishment is a family owned business and the property is not rented,” he said. “Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been possible for me to keep this hotel running.”

Abou Rjeily said that Arabs generally book rooms in his hotel from the first of May but strangely enough no one even made any reservation up till now.

This three-star hotel currently has two full-time employees only but when business start to pick up the management borrows employees from his Italian restaurant.

However, Bhamdoun Mayor Asta Abou Rjeily believes that Arab tourists will return to this town at the end of this month.

“We are waiting to see how things will develop this summer but it is still too early to make any prediction or assessment,” said Abou Rjeily, expressing confidence that this summer will see a big number of Arabs converging into Bhamdoun especially when the temperature rises in the Arab gulf region.

He added that hotels in Mount Lebanon start to open their doors at the beginning of the summer season.

Abou Rjeily’s comments were echoed by Ashkar who argued that it’s too early to make predictions about the tourism sector’s performance during the summer season.

Ashkar, who owns two hotels in Broummana and Beirut, did not hide his frustration over the failure of politicians to form a cabinet as this step would boost the confidence of Arab and foreign tourists.

“Tourists won’t feel at ease to spend their vacations in Lebanon with the absence of a government because some of them may worry that such a political instability might lead to security incidents.” “We won’t be able to benefit of a prosperous tourism season and take advantage of our relative security stability if the government is not formed in the near future,” he said.

SEVEN THINGS TOURISTS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT LEBANON
Posted by Louisa Ajami
Friday, May 20. 2011



The Ministry of Tourism likes tourists from the Gulf especially cause they spend a lot of money in Lebanon. (AFP photo)

Well folks, summer is nigh, and you know what that means here in Lebanon: mind-numbing heat and a mighty deluge of tourists.

We have our regular visitors – the Gulfis who descend on the country with their gaggles of wives and children in tow, who spend millions a month at 17-star hotels and park their double-decker Hummers in the middle of intersections.

But we also have the more mild-mannered and less imposing tourists from the other Arab states and the West.

Some of them are first-time visitors, who are sick of the same old destinations in Europe and have perhaps been drawn to Lebanon by all the hype of the past few years.

So for all you earnest travelers who’ve picked our modest little country for your vacation and care to learn more about our people before you arrive, here are some tidbits about the Lebanese:

1) We love to have fun. But this you’ve already read in the myriad articles written by first-time visitors who send gushing pieces to their hometown newspapers about how – Oh my God! – Lebanon’s an Arab country, but people love to go out and drink and dance!

2) We’re generous. Those epic fights you see over who gets to pick up the check at the end of a meal aren’t just to show off.

3) But we still love to show off.

4) God is very present in everyone’s life, even if they aren’t believers. When expressing hope, we say Inshallah (in God’s will); when marveling at the perennial beauty of nature, we say Sabhan Allah (by the grace of God); when exclaiming how beautiful a baby is, we say, Smallah (In God’s name); when talking of future events, we say In Allah rad (if God wills it); and, of course, when celebrating, we say Al hamdullillah! (Praise God!)

5) We have no sense of time. Where else does “now” mean in a few days and “tomorrow” means any time in the future?

6) We have a good sense of humor. How else are we gonna make it through the hard times continuously forced on us by our megalomaniacal ruling class? A couple days after the July War began, I started hearing jokes about it.

7) We love you! We love sharing our nation’s beauty with visitors – as long as they treat our country with a modicum of respect. If I see you driving on a sidewalk or throwing your trash out of your rented X5’s window, don’t expect me to be nice.

Occupancy at Beirut hotels drops down to 50 percent May 24, 2011 01:45 AM (Last updated: May 24, 2011 01:45 AM) The Daily Star


BEIRUT: Ernst & Young’s benchmark survey of the Middle East hotel sector indicated that the average occupancy rate at hotels in Beirut was 50 percent in the first four months of 2011 compared to 72 percent in the same period last year.

The occupancy rate at hotels in Beirut was the seventh lowest among 21 markets in the region, unchanged from the first four months last year, as reported by Lebanon This Week, the economic publication of the Byblos Bank Group.

The survey said the average rate per room at Beirut hotels was $203 in the first four months of 2011, ranking the capital’s hotels as the 11th most expensive in the region. The average rate per room at Beirut hotels decreased by 19.5 percent year-on-year and posted the steepest decline among all markets in the region.

The average rate per room in Beirut came above the regional average of $193, which decreased marginally by 0.8 percent from $194.5 in the first four months last year. Occupancy rates at Beirut hotels were 44 percent in January, 42 percent in February, 53 percent in March and 61 percent in April. Beirut hotels had occupancy rates of 64 percent in January, 76 percent in February, 68 percent in March and 79 percent in April 2010.

Further, revenues per available room (RevPAR) were $103 in Beirut in the first four months of 2011, down from $182 in the same period last year, and ranking it in 13th place in the region. Beirut’s RevPAR was down 43.6 percent year-on-year, compared to a 16 percent decrease across the region.

Beirut posted RevPARs of $99 in January, $84 in February, $107 in March and $120 in April 2011 compared to RevPARs of $160 in January, $209 in February, $155 in March and $208 in April of last year.

Dubai-Beach posted the highest average room rate in the region at $396 and the highest RevPAR at $344, while Dubai-Apartments posted the highest occupancy rate at 88 percent in the first four months of 2011.


A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on May 24, 2011, on page 4.

Is this the news campaign?

GeM2je0uuoI

Boring!!!

The video is not available anymore!! :( Do any of you guys know another link to the same vid??

Beirut top tourist destination for Kuwaitis: official June 09, 2011 11:26 AM (Last updated: June 09, 2011 03:56 PM) The Daily Star BEIRUT: Beirut is the most popular tourist destination among Kuwaitis this summer in the wake of instability resulting from the uprisings in the Arab world, an official at Kuwaiti Airport has said.


Isam al-Zamil, the head of operations at Kuwait airport, said Dubai is in second place.


In remarks published Thursday by the Kuwait newspaper al-Qabas Zamil said there are four daily flights between Beirut and Kuwait.


Al-Zamil said Kuwait will also mount four extra flights to Dubai.


Al-Zamil pointed out that Kuwait International Airport will also witness a “big jump” in passenger traffic this year.

Summertime blues
Matt Nash, June 15, 2011


Lebanon is expecting a poor tourist season this summer as uprisings rock the region and the political situation at home is tense. (AFP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Like the summer itself, tourists are taking their time arriving to Lebanon this year, and many fear vast numbers of visitors might simply not come at all. With the political situation precarious at home and turmoil rocking the region, Lebanon will not be able to pull off a three-peat of having its “best tourist season since the war,” as happened in 2009 and 2010.

The numbers so far are bleak.

In the first quarter of 2011, over 13 percent fewer tourists came to Lebanon compared to the same period in 2010, according to figures from the Ministry of Tourism. Hotel occupancy has also taken a hit. In March, the most recent available numbers, 15 percent fewer hotel rooms in Beirut were booked compared to the same month in 2010, according to Ernst & Young, a risk-assessment firm.This comes after a 34 percent fall in occupancy in February and a 20 percent dip in January.

“There has been a drop in tourists coming to Lebanon,” Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud told NOW Lebanon last week. He pointed to uprisings in the region and noted that the end of the summer will also be difficult for attracting visitors as Ramadan comes in August this year.

A fall in tourists will certainly hurt the economy at large, Nassib Ghobril, head of economic research and analysis at Byblos Bank, told NOW Lebanon. The World Travel and Tourism Council, a private-sector group, predicted in February that tourism would directly contribute 9.4 percent to GDP, with an indirect contribution of 33.8 percent.

That seems far too rosy a prediction now, Ghobril said, which is worrying for the country’s economy at large. The International Monetary Fund forecast Lebanon’s GDP growth would be a paltry 2.5 percent in 2011 after years of growth over 5 percent, but that figure itself could prove too high a prediction.

“If you look at the first quarter, 2.5 percent looks optimistic,” Ghobril said. “The first quarter was not good. There was less than 1 percent growth, and even though we have a government today doesn’t mean we will catch up with last year or the year before.”

Tourism’s indirect contributions to the economy include the bump that subsectors – such as retail stores – receive from more visitors. Indeed, luxury shops in downtown’s Beirut Souks mall are reporting plummeting sales figures.

Abboud, however, said his ministry has a plan to keep tourist numbers as high as it can.

“I will launch an agreement with General Security so every resident in the Gulf can come and get a visa at the airport,” as opposed to having to apply in advance, he said. “It’s very, very difficult for Indians, Pakistanis, Iranians and other non-Arab residents living in the Gulf to get visas.”

Abboud said that the next government, which was unveiled on June 13 but which will not get to work before winning a vote of confidence from parliament, should also approve transferring 10 percent of the tax Beirut’s airport raises to the ministry for advertising.

“That should be in the region of 15 million bucks,” he said. “That will change our promotional tactics.”

Currently, he said, the ministry has only done a minor amount of advertising this season – airing the “Beirut on my mind” ads that sparked controversy on CNN International – and is constrained by a “shoestring budget.” He said that in 2010, the ministry only spent $300,000 on advertising.

The bulk of Lebanon’s yearly visitors are either Arabs from the Gulf or Lebanese expatriates, and the expatriates are expected to keep this season from completely tanking, according to a report by Executive, a local and regional monthly business magazine.

In the 2009 and 2010 bumper years, which saw nearly 1.9 and 2.2 million tourists, respectively, Lebanon also succeeded in drawing non-Arab, and particularly Western, tourists. Part of that success, according to both Abboud and Rita Saad, public relations manager for the 5-star Le Gray hotel in downtown, was boosting Lebanon’s image in the international media by wining and dining journalists.

Saad said the hotel’s marketing strategy largely eschews traditional advertising, opting instead to invite journalists to stay at the hotel and show them around Lebanon. She said the strategy is wider than only selling the hotel itself, focusing also on pitching both Beirut and Lebanon as attractive destinations.

“We want to change the perception that Beirut is dangerous,” she said.

Jinane Akiki, head of the sustainable tourism department of the Byblos International Festival, told NOW Lebanon that festival organizers are cutting down on their advertising campaign because of unrest in the region. With a limited budget, the festival basically depends on e-mail campaigns, the festival’s website and the draw of the artists performing to attract visitors.

This year, however, organizers are not sending e-mails to residents in Libya, Tunisia or Egypt, Akiki said.

For Hala Chanine, director of the Beiteddine Art Festival, which cut its program short this summer because of Ramadan, 2011 will be just another bump in the road.

“The festival stared during the [civil] war,” she said. “In 17 years with the festival we’ve seen ups and downs… But the show must go on.”

Beirut’s rooftops open up for summer season

June 22, 2011 01:44 AM (Last updated: June 23, 2011 12:13 PM)
By Emma Gatten
The Daily Star

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/dailystar/Pictures/2011/06/22/12-Beirut-rooftops_634443034991563757_main.jpg

BEIRUT: Fresh air is hard to come by in Beirut, a city where congestion is rife and green space is sparse. So its rooftop bars, elevated above the noise and pollution, are a welcome summer retreat. So welcome in fact that this year sees several new arrivals on the open-air scene.

The latest is The Roof, a sweeping lounge bar sitting at the top of the Four Seasons’ 25 floors, which opened earlier this month. At 118 meters high, the hotel is the tallest building currently in use in the city and offers a panoramic view of the sea and the sunset that is difficult to fault, especially while sipping one of the bar’s signature rose mojitos.

“We have had the rooftop since we opened [the hotel] last year,” says Huda Malhas, the Four Seasons’ director of marketing. “We thought it was a shame not to have it available for those not staying here at the hotel.”

As is fitting for a bar atop one of the city’s most refined hotels, The Roof takes a pared-down approach compared to many of Beirut’s more glitzy establishments. The décor is all clean lines and neutral colors, the furniture made mostly in Lebanon, with some additions shipped in from Italy. The drinks menu is unfussy, offering a range of spirits from which cocktails can be prepared to request.

The bar has three lives, Malhas says, with its post-daytime incarnation split between the sunset and the night crowd.

“We’d like the bar to be somewhere that people come for a post-work drink,” says Malhas. “That’s something people do in Europe, for instance, but there’s not really a tradition of it here. We think The Roof could be the place to do that.”

Not too far from the Four Seasons is another newcomer, Iris, which opened for the first time in May, atop An-Nahar’s building in the Downtown area, replacing the rooftop’s previous resident, White bar, which is promising a relaunch elsewhere soon.

Iris is a more relaxed affair than its predecessor, offering an evening spot for food and drinks, rather than all-night partying.

But if these newest additions suggest that Beirut’s party scene might be calming down, then the seasonal opening night of Sky Bar, one of Beirut’s best-known rooftop clubs, last Friday, put paid to such notions. Though there was slightly less fanfare than expected (a rumored appearance from rapper T-Pain never materialized) there were no fewer crowds, proving that the 8-year-old club is still a firm favorite among the city’s partygoers.

To top this off is Pier7, an ambitious open-air dockside complex in Nahr al-Mott, encompassing both club and restaurant, the opening of which is set to take place June 30. The venue, which has a potential capacity of up to 2,000 looks likely to embrace the tendency to excess that can be seen in the city, with a pier extending into the sea, and seven private suites which include their own bars, terraces and facilities.

The city is set for a lively summer and it seems that nothing, even the regional turmoil, is likely to get in the way. In Beirut, says Malhas, “nothing stops people from going out … If you can get to somewhere and party, then you will party.”

Number of passengers to Lebanon declines by 1 percent
June 23, 2011
The Daily Star

BEIRUT: The number of passengers arriving to Lebanon declined by 1 percent in the first five months of 2011 compared to the same period last year, bringing the total number of passengers to 1,911,243.

According to figures released Thursday by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the number of commercial airplanes arriving to the Rafik Hariri International Airport declined by 3.36 percent, while the number of private jets declined by almost 30 percent.

The number of passengers arriving to Lebanon in May reached 420,233, a 0.02 percent decline from the same period in 2010, while the number of commercial planes also declined by 0.56 percent, or 6958 planes.

Despite the decline in the number of passengers arriving to Lebanon many hotels and other tourism-related companies are expecting the number of tourists to increase during June, a high-season month.

Hospitality revenues plunge 40 percent in 2011 July 16, 2011 01:08 AM (Last updated: July 16, 2011 11:23 AM) By Tamara Qiblawi The Daily Star


BEIRUT: Revenues in the hospitality sector have dropped by roughly 40 percent compared to previous years, Association of Hotel Owners chief Pierre Achkar told The Daily Star Friday.

Occupancy rates at hotels currently stand at around 80 percent in the Beirut district, and it is around 60 percent in Mount Lebanon. Those figures stand in stark contrast to occupancy demand levels of roughly 160 percent last year.

Additionally, the high tourist season has only just begun. Hotels only started to witness spikes in tourist traffic around July 6, said Achkar. Usually, the high tourist season spans from early June to late September.

The season is also set to see an early end, with the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan around the corner. Ramadan will begin in early August, ending nearly 30 days after. During that period, the vast majority of Muslims – who make up a large portion of foreign tourists to Lebanon – will be expected to stay near home in order to observe the holy month.

Achkar estimates that Lebanon will see only 15 days of high tourist traffic this year.

The season’s late start, said Achkar, stems from two major occurrences. These are local insecurity issues left over by nearly four months of political vacuum, and regional insecurity sparked by uprisings that have taken root in various Arab countries.

“You’re considered crazy if you want to go visit Lebanon these days,” he said. “It’s a trend among the Gulf Arab countries to look away from Lebanon.”

Achkar believes that that “trend” is a reflection of the Gulf Arab states’ “lack of approval” of the newly formed government, which many have chalked up as being Hezbollah-dominated.

The government ought to step up communication with those states in order to show them the current Cabinet is not “of one color,” reckons Achkar.

Colors are considered to be fixtures of the political landscape in Lebanon, with many of the country’s parties having adopted different shades of color as their symbols.

Saudi Arabia is considered to be the most important market for tourists to Lebanon, with Jordan trailing closely behind. But nationals from both those countries have, for the most part, stayed away.

Regional uprisings have largely sidestepped the two countries. Still, the unrest has loomed as another major roadblock in travels to Lebanon.

Syria, the only country with which Lebanon shares an open land border, and considered to be off-limits to most travelers due to the unrest, has put a major dent in Lebanon travel plans.

A large portion of travelers come to Lebanon on land, explains Achkar – most Jordanians prefer the relatively cheap five hour taxi-ride between Amman and Beirut, and many Gulf tourists prefer to drive to Lebanon in their cars in order to ease their stay in the country.

“Hundreds of thousands” of Gulf cars have passed through the Lebanese-Syrian borders in the last few years, said Achkar.

As for Jordan-Lebanese travel, Achkar is pushing for Lebanese charter flights to “temporarily” fly between Amman and Beirut, because “land travel between the countries is now only a little bit cheaper than air travel.”

Costs of transportation through Syria have risen by as much as 50 percent since upheaval in that country began.

And it is not just Lebanon’s tourism that has paid the price for this turmoil, but, notably, its farming sector, which employs roughly 20 percent of Lebanon’s population.

High transport costs have compounded the already heavy burdens borne by the under-developed sector, making export a difficult feat.

Syria is one of the farming sector’s key export markets, with other trading partners also receiving Lebanese produce through land transport.

Potato farmers are currently incurring a LL100 loss per kilogram of potato because of this phenomenon, president of the Farmers’ Association Antoine Hwayek told The Daily Star

Annual occupancy rate in Beirut hotels declines 65 percent August 08, 2011 03:02 PM (Last updated: August 08, 2011 03:36 PM) The Daily Star



BEIRUT: Beirut's hotel industry experienced a downfall this year with a 64.5 percent decline in occupancy rate for the first six months of 2011, according to figures released by STR Global.

Occupancy rates have been below last year’s throughout 2011. Ernst and Young's benchmark survey of the Middle East hotel sector reported in May the average occupancy rate at hotels in Beirut was 50 percent in the first four months of 2011.

However, occupancy rates for June saw a much less steep decline, at 4.5 percent year-on-year. Revenue per available room declined by 15.1 percent for the month, to $136.

In July, the Association of Hotel Owners estimated the drop in revenues in the hospitality sector to be roughly 40 percent on last year, noting that the month of August will also witness a decline as many Muslim tourists prefer to be at home during fasting period.

The report also highlighted hotel industries of some Middle Eastern cities including Cairo, Abu Dhabi, and Jeddah, with the latter rated as the highest in terms of occupancy rate and rate of revenue.

Cairo hotels experienced a decline of 39.2 percent this year as the rate of revenue for each hotel room was set at $45.

However, the Middle Eastern region overall registered a 59 percent rise in occupancy rates and the revenue rate also saw a rise of 5.3 percent making the revenue of each hotel room $96.

The tourism trap Mona Alami, August 17, 2011





Moving from one pub to another, hordes of partygoers fill the streets of Beirut many nights of the week, a testament to the celebrated Lebanese nightlife. But what has become in recent years one of the backbones of the Lebanese tourism sector is plagued by a lack of transparency and corruption, and governed by an archaic legal system.

There are about 7,500 companies, including pubs and bars, that make up the “tourism industry” in Lebanon, according to the Ministry of Tourism, which oversees licensing and inspections of the establishments. “Unfortunately, we don’t have an accurate count of illegal operators,” said Michel Habis, advisor to the Lebanese minister of tourism. Some estimates put the number of illegal ventures catering to tourists at around 7,000.

“The legislative framework governing the Lebanese nightlife industry dates back to the 1950s,” said Paul Ariss, head of the Lebanese syndicate for bars and restaurants. “It is obsolete and poorly adapted to the industry of modern pubs and bars.”

As an example Halim, a Gemmayze pub owner who asked that his real name not be used for professional reasons, had no choice but to register his pub as a snack shop, as the word “bar,” in Lebanese tourism law, refers to “bordellos,” or brothels.

Habis admits that the legal system currently regulating the Lebanese tourism sector needs modernization. “We are working on a new draft law that will allow us to revamp the sector. In the meantime, we are relying on an awareness campaign targeting pub and bar owners highlighting the application process,” he told NOW Lebanon.

Another problem hindering the industry’s development is what business owners dub “the Ministry of Tourism’s lax approach to granting first-phase licenses,” the permit that owners must secure to begin renovating a location to eventually open. “First-phase licenses are easily available,” Halim said, while second-phase licenses, which owners technically need to obtain before beginning doing business, are very difficult to get. “This is totally absurd,” he added. “Only after investors are encouraged to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars does it become difficult to maintain licenses.”

Halim points out that while a residential area such as Gemmayze should have a maximum of 50 bars, there are over 100 currently operating. But even though they are allowed to open in large numbers, pub owners still get slapped with public disturbance fines. Youssef, another Gemmayze bar owner, complains that though he gets fined for noise violations frequently, he has never been shown a copy of a complaint. “We are not even sure such a complaint ever existed,” he said.

Indeed, corruption is one of the main challenges Lebanese bar owners face. Lebanon scored 2.5 on Transparency International’s 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index, which evaluates the population’s perceptions of how corrupt their country is on a scale of zero to 10, zero being the most corrupt.

For example, Eric, a Hamra pub owner, admits to having paid a $1,000 bribe to the head of the police forces in the area to be allowed to expand his bathrooms by half a meter. “Other pub owners advised me to pay a visit to the head of the local police station who had a weakness for Cuban cigars. The sales people at the cigar shop knew all about his personal preferences, which is the case, it seems, for most police and military officers,” he added.

But Eric’s problems with the police did not end there. Officers stop by his pub on a regular basis at the beginning of every summer and in early December—both high seasons for tourists—wanting to close him down for not having his second-phase license.

“We have been renewing our application for a second-phase license for years now to no avail,” Eric said.

Halim, the Gemmayze pub owner, said that his second-phase license application took over seven years to be processed.

Bar owners agree, however, that while corruption is still rampant, the situation has improved in recent years. In the 1990s, says Eric, bar owners used to have to grant shares of their establishments’ profits to members of the security services or their relatives to avoid any problems with law enforcement.

And while the Ministry of Tourism has increased the number of officers who inspect pubs and restaurants in an attempt to streamline the process and increase transparency, many pub owners are not convinced.

“This effort alone is not enough; people corrupting the system should be arrested and the Lebanese society as a whole should help us put an end to such practices by reporting those involved,” said Habis.

Reservations in Beirut hotels now stand at 95 percent despite the issuance of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon indictment

Source: Dailystar

really? that is good news, they barely reached that during the peek of the summer season, maybe because the eid is near!

f** airline tickets to Lebanon this period are crazy! even FlyDubai (LCC) is 500$ + for a round trip ticket DXB-BEY!

Eid al-Fitr sees surge in travel reservations
August 27, 2011 01:46 AM
The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Reservations among various local, regional and international airline companies to Lebanon during Eid al-Fitr shot up remarkably, said Jean Abboud, head of the travel agencies owners association in statement to Al-Markazia.

“Some of the airlines have even resorted to increasing the number of their flights to Lebanon next week,” he said while expressing hopes that September would see great improvement on the touristic level.

Abboud said that most reservations are being made by Lebanese expatriates from the U.S., Australia and Europe. He added that Lebanese expatriates won’t be the only visitors in September, but Arabs and mainly Arab nationals from Bahrain, Dubai and Riyadh as well.

Abboud noted that the tourism activity this year saw a great drop compared to last year especially during the first three months of the year.

“Tourism activity reached 8 percent in July and we hope that activity improves in September to compensate for the previous months,” he said.

Increasing numbers of Kuwaitis head to Lebanon for Eid Al-Fitr
Tourism 8/27/2011 2:43:00 PM

(With photo) BEIRUT, Aug 27 (KUNA) -- An increasing number of Kuwaiti nationals have chosen Lebanon as their destination for Eid Al-Fitr holiday with the percentage of bookings almost hitting 100 percent.
A number of Kuwaiti tourists in Lebanon told KUNA that Kuwaitis usually head to Mountainous regions such as Bhamdoun and other similar areas due to the tremendous cool weather and scenery.
Resident Kuwaiti businessman Khaled Al-Duaij said that despite the decreasing numbers of tourists heading to Lebanon, Kuwaiti and GCC nationals are flooding tourist attraction areas like Bhamdoun and the mountainous area.

On his part Kuwaiti national Nasser Al-Mutairi said that it was difficult to book a flight to Lebanon due to an increasing number of people eager to spend their holidays here.
Tourists from the GCC region represent around 40 percent of the total number of tourists heading to Lebanon. (end) maa.gta KUNA 271443 Aug 11NNNN

Beirut hotel occupancy hits high during Eid September 03, 2011 01:44 AM By Dana Halawi The Daily Star



BEIRUT: Most of the hotels in Beirut and Mount Lebanon reported a brisk business during Eid al-Fitr but did not expect this trend to continue too long. “Our rooms were fully booked during the first two days of Eid al-Fitr,” the head of the reservations desk at Coral Beach Hotel in Jnah told The Daily Star.

He said that reservations on Aug. 28 and before the beginning of Eid stood at 70 percent, while occupancy was much less in the holy month of Ramadan, when most of the visitors were Europeans coming in groups and not Arabs.

“Arabs have only started to come during Eid,” he said.

His remarks were echoed by Elie Mahfouz, who works on the reservations desk at Mayflower Hotel in Hamra. “Europeans were our main visitors during Ramadan and the occupancy rate reached only 40 percent but it hit 100 percent starting the first day of Eid al-Fitr,” he said. Mahfouz expects this rate to remain fixed until Sept. 15.

Comments made by Beirut hotels’ were confirmed by Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud, who said that occupancy rates in Beirut hotels reached 100 percent during Eid al-Fitr but that they are expected to go down by the end of the first week of September.

“Occupancy rates this week stand at 100 percent in Beirut hotels but I don’t really expect a great improvement in the tourism activity following Eid al-Fitr and until the end of this year due to the turmoil prevailing in the region,” he told The Daily Star.

The Lebanese tourism sector has been hard hit since the beginning of the security and political turmoil in Syria, as most of the Arab tourists visit Lebanon by land via Syria.

“Tourism by land has dropped by around 80 percent during the past few months due to the security problems in Syria,” said Abboud.

Abboud has on many occasions announced that his ministry is trying to solve this issue by starting with low cost flights. “We are trying our best to start with low cost flights because, to be honest with you, this is the only solution we have,” he said.

This idea of starting with low cost flights was floated in the past couple of months after the tourism season in Lebanon witnessed a 65 percent drop in tourists coming by land, according to a statement made by Abboud during the month of July to the Voice of Lebanon Radio Station.

“We lost 21,000 Jordanian tourists and more than 20,000 Iranian tourists last month,” Abboud said, noting on the other hand a 12 percent rise in European and U.S. tourist arrivals.

While Beirut hotels were occupied at a 100 percent rate, those operating in Mount Lebanon recorded 90 percent occupancy rates in Bhamdoun and Aley and only 50 percent in the rest of the mountain region. “Some of the hotels in the mountain area did not record high occupancy rates because they mainly rely on tourists coming by land,” he said.

Abboud assured that most of the tourists who visited Lebanon during Eid al-Fitr came by plane.

His comments were echoed by Rand Ibrahim, who is responsible for the reservations department at Ramada Hotel. Ibrahim said that most of the tourists visiting her hotel are coming via plane to avoid being faced with security problems that may occur by coming via Syria.

Ibrahim said that occupancy during Ramadan reached only 50 percent and visitors were mainly Europeans coming to Lebanon for business purposes. According to Ibrahim, Arab tourists have started flocking to Lebanon at the beginning of Eid al-Fitr. “The occupancy rate went up to 80 percent on Aug. 28 while it reached 100 percent on Sept. 1 and 2,” she said. Ibrahim expects the hotel to remain fully booked until Sept. 6.

Some hotels have also assured that tourists included Syrian nationalities who are coming for tourism or to escape security problems in their country.

“Occupancy rate reached 100 percent on Aug. 29 and during the Eid al-Fitr week,” said head of the reservations department at Crown Plaza Hotel in Beirut, who added that most of the Arab tourists visiting his hotel came by plane. He said the number of Syrian tourists increases mainly on Thursdays and Fridays of each week. “That’s because most of the bloody protests take place on Fridays after Muslim prayers so people tend to avoid them,” he said.

While most of the hotels in Beirut and Mount Lebanon witnessed a drop during Ramadan, Grand Hills hotel in Broummana has surprisingly registered a 90 percent occupancy rate during this holy month. “This rate went up to 100 percent during Eid al-Fitr, but it is expected to go down starting Sept. 4,” said Mario Malkoun, assistant front office manager.

Number of tourists falls 39.31 percent in July The Daily Star




BEIRUT: The number of tourists coming to Lebanon in the month of July 2011 fell by 39.31 percent compared to the same period of last year, the Tourism Ministry said Tuesday. It attributed the sharp dip in the number of tourists to the political stalemate in the country and the deteriorating conditions in Syria.

The number of visitors in July reached just 219,000 compared to 361,934 in the same month of 2010, a decrease of 39.31 percent.

The ministry noticed that the number of Arab visitors drastically fell by 54.08 percent in the month of July.

Tour operators say that many of the Arab tourists used to spend time in Syria during the summer season and then travel by cars and buses to Lebanon to spend their remaining vacation.

The number of Arab tourists in July stood at 80,631 compared to 175,610 in the same month of last year.

The total number of visitors in the first seven months of this year reached 933,867 compared to 1.326 million in the same period of last year, a drop of 25.04 percent.

The ministry said that Iraqi nationals ranked 1st in terms of Arab visitors to Lebanon, followed by Saudis, Jordanians, Kuwaitis and Egyptians.

While most hotels in Beirut reported brisk business during the Eid holiday, this is expected to fall off after Sept. 7.

Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud reiterated that the ministry is still seeking to promote tourism in Lebanon by luring tourists from different countries.

He added that the number of visitors through Rafik Hariri International Airport reached 10,000 to 13,000 tourists a day during the Eid.

“Most hotels reported between 80 percent to 100 percent room bookings during the Eid,” the minister said, stressing that Lebanon should be a favored destination because it has better security conditions then most countries in the region.

Lebanon a safe, stimulating vacation destination

By Rummana Hussain Staff Reporter/rhussain@suntimes.com September 10, 2011 1:40AM

Updated: September 11, 2011 1:09PM


Their eyes widened like golf ball-sized falafels, their mouths slack-jawed.

I understood my friends’ panicked concern over my decision to explore Lebanon as Arab Spring somersaulted across the Middle East.

But I assured them that the tiny Mediterranean country was relatively stable based on the glowing reviews of recent visitors and kept the days-old news accounts of the Estonian tourists kidnapped in Bekaa Valley to myself.

“You’re going to get shot,” my mother said half-jokingly, suggesting that the snug University of Illinois T-shirt I threw on for the airplane ride wasn’t modest enough and would out me as an American.

Several hours later, as my younger sister Almas and I ambled through Beirut’s trendy Gemmayze Street in a jet-lagged haze, we smirked as throngs of women in tiny, form-fitting pencil skirts stood feet away from neon-lit stalls selling ... hot dogs.

These fast-food joints accept U.S. dollars, as do most Lebanese businesses, we soon learned.

“Wait. That’s Guns N’ Roses!” I said, playing an impromptu game of “Name That Tune” as we pressed our faces against a tavern where drunken revelers karaoked and puffed away on ornate hookahs, or as the Lebanese call them, nargiles.

Lebanon, our bed-and-breakfast host Jamil Azar explained, is a conciliatory antidote for wary Westerners uninitiated to the paradoxical ways of the Middle East.

He was on to something.

As Muslims whose wanderlust parents took us back to their native India and other exotic locales, we weren’t shocked that it was foreigners who mostly rode the rare camel or by the burqa-clad women browsing through racks alongside kohl-eyed hipsters at the Reem Acra spring/summer collection show we crashed.

But we were pleasantly surprised at the ease with which Lebanon embraced modernity without compromising centuries-old traditions, and its attempt to corral together a religious and ethnically diverse population who not too long ago battled one another for a drawn out 15 years.

“They pray together,” I thought to myself, glimpsing Mohammad al-Amin Mosque’s grand turquoise domes from the neighboring St. George Cathedral, a Maronite church dating to the Crusades in Beirut.

My new friends — Ali, a Shiite, and Nicolas, a part-Greek Christian — also pointed out that when the sun goes down, the young and trendy also play together, hitting the capital’s famed nightclubs and bars.

I told Ali and the drivers working for his brother’s 4-wheel rent-a-car company that we could forgo the discos and brushed away offers to “make ski” in the snow-capped Faraya-Mzaar.

We don’t want to do things we could do in Chicago, we said, mapping out an itinerary that had them driving us to the famed Jeita limestone caves and Roman ruins that outrivaled their European counterparts.

Every morning, sometimes after an early tai chi lesson, Jamil would prepare a traditional meal, then walk us to the door, once shooing away a Jehovah’s Witness who didn’t stand a chance with the secular Christian artist or his Muslim guests.

Jamil’s spacious ancestral apartment mirrors modern-day Beirut’s chic and stately facade marred with an occasional blemish intentionally left untreated, as if to serve as a sobering reminder of the country’s bloody past and its powder-keg geographical location, sandwiched by Israel and Syria.

One day, as I dipped flatbread in Lebanese yogurt and an herbed sesame spread — Jamil lifted the cream-colored linen, revealing where a bullet grazed across the dining table during the civil war between 1975 and 1990. Near his stereos and CDs sits a framed picture of his beloved nephew who was killed in a bombing a few years back.

Outside, a sniper-riddled Holiday Inn from the 1970s juts out from the million-dollar condos, palm trees and five-star hotels like a pockmarked teen amongst air-brushed Abercrombie & Fitch models.

At the breathtaking American University, where students in Uggs, hijabs and beanies mill about, stands a knotted banyan tree dedicated to the school’s late president Malcolm Kerr — the father of former Chicago Bull Steve Kerr — who was gunned down by terrorists on the campus in 1984.

And just outside the Al-Amin mosque, recorded Quranic passages waft through the air at the gravesite of Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, who was assassinated along with his trusted bodyguards in 2005.

Yet the Lebanese continue to march on, celebrating life while keeping an eye on who they once were.

This resilience is best personified by 80-year-old Moussa al Maamari, who built a towering castle in the Chouf region for the woman he loved but who never loved him back. While less historic than Sidon’s Sea Castle and more rudimentary than the nearby Beiteddine Palace, Moussa’s handiwork is impressive because the elderly man built the structure himself over a 60-year period, filling it with kitschy miniatures and an antique weapons collection.

Moussa married another woman, he told me in Arabic as a local tourist translated. But I had no doubt he still held a torch for his childhood crush.

“She slapped me twice. But I enjoyed it,” Moussa said, relishing the memory.

Rain dampened our trip to Byblos, the quaint fishing village housing the ancient town of influenced by Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Phoenicians.

But the weather was more agreeable when we visited the ruins of the Umayyad city of Anjar and the must-see temples in Baalbek — the “nest” of Hezbollah. It was the only excursion we took with a tour group.

As hawkers tried peddling Hezbollah souvenirs outside, we marveled at the well-preserved, intricate temples dedicated to Venus, Jupiter and Bacchus inside. More than 100,000 slaves are believed to have helped build the structures, with the work starting in 60 B.C. and finishing 120 years later.

“This is much better than the Parthenon,” my sister said, otherwise speechless over the sheer massiveness of the Corinthian columns in what many historians believe to be the best-preserved Roman temple of its size.

Baalbek was no doubt the highlight of our trip.

On our last day in Lebanon, Bedros, a young L.A.-based Armenian-American hairdresser visiting relatives and sorting his family’s property, asked us if we knew where the open-air farmers market was.

We didn’t. But we took Bedros to the mosque, Christian Louboutin and Hermes boutiques before accidentally stumbling upon the outdoor produce and snack haven he had been searching for.

There, at the farmers market, a woman Almas recognized from the popular Anthony Bourdain travel series prepared kibbeh with raw meat and bulgar.

We asked just for a sample because we weren’t sure if the uncooked delicacy would be too gamey for our palates.

Then, when I wasn’t paying attention, the woman stuffed the uncooked concoction into my mouth.

It was unexpected, a jolt to my senses.

Just like Lebanon.

Hotels devastated by poor tourist season September 14, 2011 01:39 AM (Last updated: September 14, 2011 01:43 AM) By Tamara Qiblawi The Daily Star


BEIRUT: Lebanon’s hotel sector has seen revenues plummet by 38 percent in 2011, Hotel Owners Association chief Pierre Achkar told The Daily Star. Regional and domestic unrest were the main culprits behind poor performance in the industry this year, pushing tourists normally bound for Beirut to other Near Eastern destinations, mainly Turkey.

Normally when there’s a crisis in the region, Lebanon is able to take advantage of the situation, offering Gulf Arab tourists relative comfort from the dire straits their countries might be in, said Achkar.

The global financial crisis of 2007, which rattled markets in the Arabian Peninsula but sidestepped Lebanon’s conservative financial sector, is one example of this.

Regional unrest may have again missed Lebanon with the eruption of the Arab Spring, but the picture is looking starkly different, mainly due to recent shifts in the domestic arena.

“The Arab Gulf countries have not given the current government their blessing … so Gulf Arabs are not encouraging one another to come to Lebanon,” said Achkar.

Another issue keeping tourists away is Syria’s unrest. The only country that shares an open border with Lebanon, Syria serves as a major gateway into the Lebanese tourist sector. Tens of thousands of tourists from Jordan and Gulf Arab states regularly shuttle through the country to reach Lebanon.

This year, widespread violence in the Arab Republic is putting a major dent in transport, forcing taxi fares up as security risks increase.

The number of Jordanians arriving in Lebanon through its land borders dropped from 31,000 in 2010 to 5,800 in 2011, according to Achkar.

Heightened air traffic has tried to make up for the loss in land travelers, with airlines dispatching additional flights on regional air routes. Statistics released Wednesday showed that Rafik Hariri International Airport posted a 23 percent increase in August arrivals year-on-year.

Still the loss of tourists trekking through Syria is far greater, said Achkar. Air travelers from Jordan, for example, have increased from 7,000 in 2010 to 9,000 in 2011, a small portion compared to the drop in land travel from that country.

Ramadan’s falling in the middle of the tourist season – from Aug. 1-29 this year – did not help. It’s a time when Muslims normally forgo travel, preferring to observe the strict requirements of the fasting month near to home.

But it’s high time Lebanon caught on with that trend, said Achkar. Lebanon’s high tourist season, which normally spans from late May to late September, has overlapped with the fasting month for four years now. It will continue to do for another seven years.

That should push Lebanon to seek non-Arab tourist markets, Achkar said.

It’s a more difficult venture, because the Tourism Ministry must bring Lebanon out of the shadows of the unknown in those countries, bucking off its age-old image as a war-torn state.

Lebanon’s Tourism Ministry must intensify its promotional campaigns that have so far received more airtime as talking points in political debates than as advertisements in foreign countries, he said.

The ministry claims it has been constrained by tight budgets. Achkar argued that while the ministry may be cash-strapped, the budget that they have has not been used wisely.

Tourist pamphlets have not been distributed to foreign travel agencies. Instead, they sit at local tourist offices, waiting to be picked up by passersby.

The Ministry must forge partnerships with foreign travel offices, offering monetary support for Lebanon’s promotion by covering any losses the office might bear by going through such a venture, said Achkar.

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/dancing-on-the-edge/

^^
To Beirut’s art-and-party crowd — which consists mostly of French-educated Maronite Catholics but includes doses of Christian Orthodox, Sunni Muslims and Druse — the question of whether the new government will regain some kind of productivity doesn’t appear to matter.

WTF !!

Beirut
After years of chaos, Lebanon's cosmopolitan capital is making a stylish comeback

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204831304576596721048090478.html
By ANNA LOUIE SUSSMAN

Long fêted as the Middle East's party capital, Beirut has more to offer than nightclubs and beautiful women (though some tourism promos might suggest otherwise). This ancient, complex metropolis, where any conversation might blend French, English and Arabic, has been on a rebuilding tear after years of turmoil. (Things can get dicey again quickly, so consider travel advisories before visiting.) Courtesy of its cozy constellation of tastemakers, Beirut has a spate of fresh options for culture, dining and shopping.
Insider's Guide To Beirut


The city's geography—mountains on one side, the Mediterranean on the other—and high rents mean hotspots have sprung up in unlikely neighborhoods. Downtown, which was ravaged by the 15-year civil war, is now home to the Beirut Souks, a shiny collection of shops on posh streets with names like Park Avenue and Avenue Foch. In the grimy port, new boutiques occupy a 1950s building. One is home to fashion designer Rabih Kayrouz, whose hand-sewn clothes come close to couture. Next door, Karen Chekerdjian's boutique celebrates the handmade in all forms, from tables made by local artisans to pastas from Italy.

Since 2009, when Beirut farmers' market founder Kamal Mouzawak opened Tawlet, a locavore refectory in quiet Mar Mikhael, appliance repair shops have given way to chic spots like Plan BEY, a book, art and music store owned by Tony Sfeir, founder of La CD-thèque, formerly the center of the local music scene. In largely industrial Karantina, the two-year-old Running Horse gallery shows contemporary artists from Lebanon and the region.

Despite all the novelty, tastes of tradition are not hard to find. In East Beirut neighborhoods, a handful of Ottoman villas with pointed-arch windows linger among the high-rises. In the cafés that line busy commercial streets in Hamra, clutches of old cigarette-smoking, suit-wearing intellectuals divide their attention between piles of Arabic newspapers and cups of Turkish coffee.

Fall for the city in autumn, when the summer crowds have gone. The Beirut Jazz Festival is running in the Souks; the Beirut International Film Festival is hot on its heels. Perfect timing for a city that seems ready for a close-up.
—Anna Louie Sussman

The Gourmet
[CONCIERGE-Helou]

Anissa Helou

Anissa Helou
Lebanese-born chef and author of "Lebanese Cuisine" and "Mediterranean Street Food"

Breakfast of Champions // El-Soussi. Go there for the best fatteh (a composed dish with yogurt, toasted bread, chickpeas and toasted pine nuts) and scrambled eggs with qawarma (corned lamb). Mr. El Soussi has been running this place for 50 years. It's a one-man show in the tiniest kitchen imaginable. Open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Zeydaniyeh, 961-63-927-421

Sweetest Pie// Amal Bohsali. Nobody makes good k'nafeh, a sweet cheese pie that has about 1,000 calories a bite, anymore. But here they still use all the top-quality ingredients: sheep's milk ghee, akkawi cheese and a vermicelli-like pastry that they crumble by hand. Multiple locations, including Alfred Nobel Street next to Le Bristol Hotel, abohsali.com.lb

Ice King // Hanna Mitri. Possibly the best Arab ice cream anywhere. I love Hanna's constant, constant devotion to his craft. He uses fruits in season and he never compromises. Mar Mitr Street, 961-1-322-723

Supreme Street Food// Falafel Tabbara. The falafel are fluffy and light, crispy outside. This shop makes the fattest sandwiches ever, with lots of falafel, herbs, tahini and vegetables, and the people are super charming. Lyon Street, Hamra, 961-1-350-821

Couture Crafts// Artisans du Liban et d'Orient. For supremely elegant takes on traditional crafts—caftans, blown glass, beaten silver. Everything produced in Lebanon a hundred years ago has been rethought by the owner, Nadia El Khoury, with better materials and finer cuts. A in Mreisseh , artisansduliban.com
The Couturier
[CONCIERGE-Saab]

Elie Saab

Elie Saab
Beirut-based fashion designer

Live Entertainment// The Music Hall. This former cinema is a favorite place of mine to go at night, as you meet people from all walks of life. They play good music and the clientele is nice. Starco Center, Omar Daouk Street, 961-3-807-555

Clandestine Cocktails// The Bar at the Four Seasons Hotel. You can have quiet meetings in this Asian-themed bar—the spaces are elegantly curtained off. And they have a great drinks menu. 1418 Professor Wafic Sinno Ave., Minet El Hosn, fourseasons.com/beirut

French Fare// Balthus. This is a perfect lunchtime spot—full of life, and I'm always running into so many people I know. They have a unique menu that mixes French cuisine with classic Lebanese dishes. Ghandour Building, Minet El Hosn, 961-1-371-077

Night Sight// Bar ThreeSixty. The rooftop bar at Le Gray, Gordon Campbell's hotel, is a favorite place to meet friends for drinks in the evening. It is located in the Beirut Central District, and through the glass walls you have gorgeous views of the Al-Omari mosque. Martyrs' Square, campbellgrayhotels.com

Culture Crash// Nada Debs Boutique. She designs furniture and objects that blend Middle and Far Eastern influences. Her pieces are modern, but with a touch of tradition—and beautifully made. Building E 1064, Moukhalsieh Street,
nadadebs.com
The Designer
[CONCIERGE-Khour]

Bernard Khoury

Bernard Khoury
Architect; founder of DW5 design studio

Public Gallery// Beirut Art Center. A miracle in Beirut. Two women, Lamia Joreige and Sandra Dagher, founded it against all odds, and have managed to put together a very, very good program. Jisr El-Wati, beirutartcenter.org

Local Dining // Tawlet. The owner of this restaurant invites people from different villages, who bring their own recipes and ingredients and make a lunch menu that changes every day. They have things I've never seen before, the type of things you don't find in restaurants. It's very healthy food, organic and local. Even the water, beer and wine are local. Naher Street, Chalhoub Building, tawlet.com

Elegant Inn// Hotel Albergo. This is the most comfortable hotel, in my opinion, in Beirut. It has a very nice—and very small—roof terrace. 137 Abdel Wahab El Inglizi St., albergobeirut.com

Destination Restaurant// Chez Sami. Take the highway northbound out of Beirut—it's dangerous and ugly as hell—to Chez Sami, an excellent fish restaurant where I have my weekly meal—at least weekly, sometimes more. Jounieh Old Road, Maameltein, www.chezsamirestaurant.com

Landmark Design // Interdesign building. One of my father's [Khalil Khoury's] greatest works, and one reason I became an architect. It represents the aspirations of a modern generation, the things that were possible in the early years of the republic in the '60s and early '70s, prior to the war. interdesign.com.lb
The Rock Star
[CONCIERGE-Hamda]

Yasmine Hamdan

Yasmine Hamdan
Beirut-born Arabic electropop singer; half of the duo Y.A.S.

Life Aquatic// The Sporting Club. You can eat fish and swim here, enjoying the very dramatic and beautiful view over the water. It's not a beach, as it's in Beirut, but you have a great swimming pool. Ras Beirut, by Luna Park, 961-1-742-481

Shop Talk// Johnny Farah and IF. The personal shop has amazing leather goods: any bag you buy from there lasts 10 years. IF, which he also owns, carries a selection of edgy brands. We have a lot of brands now, here in Beirut, but they have an aesthetic I like. Johnny Farah: Said Akl Street, Saifi Village, johnnyfarah.com; IF: various locations, including Shehadeh Street, Ashrafieh, 961-1-215-569

Hip Listening// Electro Mecanique. A tiny bar with a big room downstairs where they have live music. The DJ is always great. It draws a cool, artsy, alternative crowd. Behind Electricité du Liban in Mar Mikhael

Notable Nabe// Hamra. The heart of Beirut. I go to De Prague, a homey and comfortable bar, and Bread Republic, where you sit at the tables on a street with no electricity. It reminds me of Lebanon 15 years ago, when I came back after the civil war and discovered this enigmatic city. De Prague: Makdissi Street, 961-1-744-864; Bread Republic: near Nehme Yafet Street, 960-1-739-040

Gift Shop// Liwan. From furniture to clothes to shoes, they have everything if you want to buy a gift and want it to be incredible. There's one in France, too. 56 Madrid St., 961-1-444-141

Plus Don't Miss

Ginette | Beirut's answer to Colette. ginette-beirut.comThe Corniche | One of the city's only truly public spaces, the boardwalk along the sea. Al Halabi | A gaudy, old-school eatery with amazing food in the suburb of Antelias. 961-4-523-555National Bakeries | Its mana'eesh, or Lebanese pizzas, are the best in town. Bliss Street, across from the American University of Beirut. 961-1-365-399 Plum | Beirut's first concept store carries up-and-coming and highly coveted designers, beauty products and CDs. www.plumconcept.com

http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/industry-insights/the-life/beirut-full-of-cosmopolitan-surprises

Arab tourist money to Lebanon dries up October 05, 2011 06:49 PM By Peter T. Daou, Dana Khraiche The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Spending by Arab tourists in Lebanon declined in the first eight months of 2011 compared to the same period last year, a recent report said earlier this week.

According to Global Blue, the company in charge of Value Added Tax refunds in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia spent 9 percent less in Lebanon during the first eight months of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010. Despite the 9 percent drop, Saudi tourists remained the top spenders in Lebanon.

Spending by Kuwait and Qatar nations was also down by 12 and 10 percent respectively in 2011 through August, in line with lower spending by tourists from Egypt and Jordan at 19 percent and 7 percent respectively.

But lower VAT refunds do not necessarily reflect a more economical group of tourists.

In fact, the number of tourists visiting Lebanon declined 25 percent year-over-year to 1.26 million through August, with the share of Saudi guests dropping from nearly 9 percent of total tourists in 2010 to 5.6 percent in 2011, dealing a heavy blow to Saudi spending.

However, tourists from Saudi Arabia continued to outspend their peers in Lebanon, constituting 20 percent of total purchases while Kuwaitis were in third place with 9 percent.

Economists and politicians have attributed the decline in tourist revenues to the country’s often precarious security as well as unrest in the region in general, but particularly in neighboring Syria.

Pierre Ashkar, president of Lebanon's Hotel Owners Union, said the decline could be traced to various factors, but mainly Lebanon’s fragile stability.

“People usually book their summer vacation in advance so the delay in forming a government [until the end of June] discouraged many people and they ended up not considering Lebanon as their tourist destination,” Ashkar said, adding that political instability resulted in the overall lack of stability.

He also said that the unrest in various Arab countries coupled with the EU financial crisis have significantly impacted Arab countries and forced many to be more economical.

“When the Arab and international stock markets were making gains, people were spending, but nowadays with the financial crises in Greece, Spain, Arab countries and the U.S., people think twice before spending a lot,” he added.

The report also said that Saudi tourists, like their neighboring Kuwaitis and Qataris, often drive through Jordan and Syria to Lebanon by car, a daunting journey after the Syrian turmoil.

“There is a big segment of Gulf families who used to travel to Lebanon by land but with the recent unrest in Syria and their experience of the 2006 war with Israel, they have reconsidered visiting,” Ashkar said, referring the July-August war between Lebanon and the Jewish state.

Although Lebanon was stood up by guests from top Arab spending countries, total tourist spending rose 4 percent year-on-year during the first eight months of 2011, driven by a 13 percent pick up in Emirati spending and by high single-digit sales growth of Syrian and French visitors.

Fashion and clothing retained the top spot on tourists’ buying habits list, constituting 74 percent of total spending, and rising 9 percent over 2010, while watches were 14 percent less popular in 2011 and made up 10 percent of total purchases.

The first eight months of the year also saw tourists directing more funds to the country’s capital. All districts fell out of spending favor for Lebanon’s tourists except Beirut, where spending rose 6 percent and reached 84 percent of total purchases compared to massive drops in Baabda and Kessrwan –north of Beirut - of 19 percent and 13 percent respectively.

Many economists have been calling for an equal development plan that would see other districts in the country, other than Beirut, take advantage of a year-round tourism season. While others believe the decentralization would automatically help other districts flourish in fields of tourism and business.

“For Lebanon to become ultimately an international destination, the country needs at least four years of continued stability and equal development for all areas,” Ashkar said.

That stability is key to the country’s tourism sector improving was echoed by Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud Wednesday.

Abboud, who inaugurated the “1st Forum for Sustainable National Tourism” organized by Beyond Beirut, said according to forecasts, stability in the region would propel the tourism sector of states.

“The expectations are that political stability and security could propel growth in the tourism sector in countries in the Middle East to around an average of 4.5 percent,” Abboud said.

Beyond Beirut is a non-governmental agency Beyond Beirut that aims to encourage the development of experiential tourism beyond the city limits of Beirut as a means for sustainable economic development in rural Lebanon.

Syrian unrest choking tourism to Lebanon: minister October 06, 2011 05:29 PM
BEIRUT: The number of Arab tourists who drive into Lebanon is down by 90 percent this year after months of political unrest in Syria, the only neighbouring country with an open border into Lebanon, its tourism minister said on Thursday.

Fadi Abboud said: "600,000 Arab tourists normally drive through Syria (into Lebanon) every year ... 90 percent of all overland arrivals have been lost in 2011."

Overland arrivals through Syrian border crossings account for about a quarter of tourist arrivals to Lebanon, which has long promoted itself as a diverse country boasting Roman ruins, limestone caves, ski resorts, beaches and a vibrant night life.

Tourists from the Gulf, Jordan and Iraq usually drive through Syria to get to Lebanon, but the escalation of violence in Syria since anti-government demonstrations began in March has slowed the flow.

Some 2,900 civilians have been killed in Syria in a military crackdown against protesters aiming to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, according to the U.N. human rights office.

The U.N. World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) says tourism revenues in Lebanon were down 20 percent in the first six months of 2011. Tourism accounts for 22 percent of GDP.

Abboud added Western tourists had shied away from the Middle East due to the "Arab spring" unrest.

But he said he believed Lebanon's tourism sector could weather the storm.

"The main percentage of tourists coming to Lebanon are the jet setters and playboys of the Middle East ... who come for the night life and cuisine," he said. "They come into Lebanon through the airport and so they are not affected."

Tourism-sector unions slam wage hike decision October 13, 2011 01:31 PM The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Tourism sector unions slammed the government’s recent decision to adjust worker’s salaries Thursday and voiced their support for business representatives that urged private firms not to comply with the Cabinet’s decision.

“The law does not give the government the right to interfere [across the board] because we have a free economic [system] ... which forbids the government from interfering in these matters that affects investment activity and discourages investors,” Pierr Achkar, head of the Federation of Tourism Unions.

On Wednesday, the Cabinet said it would press ahead with its plan to raise wages and increase benefits despite fierce opposition from the private sector, which has threatened to ignore the newly agreed measures unless they are renegotiated.

The Cabinet, which met at Baabda Presidential Palace, insisted that the salary and benefits package it had agreed to a day earlier would be endorsed without amendments.

But sources told The Daily Star that Prime Minister Najib Mikati may form a ministerial committee to re-examine the proposed wage and benefit increases and make some modifications.

The Cabinet agreed late Tuesday to increase the minimum wage to LL700,000 from the current LL500,000 and raise by LL200,000 the wages of those earning less than LL1 million and by LL300,000 those who earn between LL1 million and LL1.8 million.

Business representatives, which represent leading businessmen and chairmen of medium to small companies and banks in Lebanon, called on all private companies to refuse to comply with Cabinet’s decision to raise wages.

Achkar, who spoke following a crisis meeting of the tourism unions Thursday, said the government had gone too far.

“They went even beyond the demands of the business representatives for a general strike because this isn’t the first time that the government has acted in this chaotic manner, especially given that in 2008 we gave raises and agreed that the Price Index Committee be the legal authority that should be referred to when considering salary increases. This committee has set [the level] at 16 percent, why wasn’t this adopted?” Achkar asked.

Describing the move by the government as “tribal,” Achkar said the decision had not been examined sufficiently “because when there is a recession in economic activity the relevant authorities decrease wages, as did happen in Greece, and not to increase them.”

“Employers are the ones who are affected by this decision and the employees even more so if this decision could not be taken without a social policy in terms of transportation, health and education and others ... that the government should secure.”

Occupancy at Beirut hotels down to 55 percent November 01, 2011 12:43 AM The Daily Star


BEIRUT: Ernst & Young’s benchmark survey of the Middle East hotel sector indicated that the average occupancy rate at hotels in Beirut was 55 percent in the first 9 months of 2011, decreasing from 68 percent in the same period last year.

The occupancy rate at Beirut hotels was the eighth lowest among 21 markets in the region, the same position it held last year, as reported by Lebanon This Week, the economic publication of the Byblos Bank Group.

The survey said the average rate per room at Beirut hotels was $222 in the first 9 months of 2011, ranking the capital’s hotels as the seventh most expensive in the region.

The average rate per room at Beirut hotels decreased by 15.3 percent year-on-year and posted the third steepest decrease among all markets in the region, behind Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt.

The average rate per room in Beirut came above the regional average of $183.3, which declined by 1.3 percent from from the original amount of $185.8 in the same period of last year.

Occupancy rates at Beirut hotels were 44 percent in January, 42 percent in February, 53 percent in March, 61 percent in April, 58 percent in May, 62 percent in June, 67 percent in July, 31 percent in August and 76 percent in September 2011 , compared to 64 percent in January, 76 percent in February, 68 percent in March, 79 percent in April, 71 percent in May, 77 percent in June, 80 percent in July, 43 percent in August and 53 percent in September 2010.

Further, revenues per available room (RevPAR) were $123 in Beirut hotels in the first 9 months of 2011, down from $179 in the same period last year, ranking it at 11th place in the region behind Muscat and Dubai and ahead of Al-Madina and Al-Ain.

Beirut’s RevPAR was down 31.2 percent year-on-year, compared to a decrease of 9.8 percent across the region. Beirut posted RevPARs of $99 in January, $84 in February, $107 in March, $120 in April, $119 in May, $142 in June, $184 in July, $63 in August and $187 in September 2011 compared to RevPARs of $160 in January, $209 in February, $155 in March, $208 in April, $158 in May, $188 in June, $270 in July, $120 in August and $141 in September 2010.

Dubai Beach posted the highest average room rate in the region at $300 and the highest RevPAR at $242, while Dubai Apartments posted the highest occupancy rate at 82 percent in the first 9 months of the year.

Number of tourists down in first 9 months November 03, 2011 01:13 AM The Daily Star


BEIRUT: Official statistics issued Wednesday said tourism went down by 25 percent during 2011, but signs of recovery are becoming more evident as Beirut hotels operate at full occupancy before the Adha holiday early next week. The report, issued by the Tourism Ministry, showed tourist inflows falling to just 1,276,110 from last year’s 1,694,662.

It said that the number of tourists coming from Arab countries had gone down by 39 percent to 430,709 visitors from last year’s 709,970.

Furthermore, the number of tourists arriving from European countries also dropped to 374,745 from last year’s 417,142.

But head of hotel owners’ association Pierre Achkar told As-Safir newspaper that Beirut hotels are presently operating at full capacity, driven by strong demand on hotel rooms just before the Islamic holiday.

Achkar put demand on hotel rooms in Beirut at 130 percent, significantly above overall capacity, suggesting hotels outside of Beirut would also benefit from the spillover of tourists coming to the capital.

“Had we been able to preserve political stability, our tourism sector would have been able to outrun neighboring countries. We would have been able to preserve the 7 percent growth rate achieved last year,” Achkar said.

Achkar also said hotel occupancy in Beirut had remained strong, remaining between 65 and 80 percent during September and October.

However, occupancy rates outside the capital were severely hit by crisis across neighboring Syria.

“The occupancy rate [in areas outside Beirut] remained below 30 percent. Often reaching rates as low as 10 percent or less,” Achkar said.

Tourism picks up dramatically for Eid al-Adha November 09, 2011 01:07 AM By Mohamad El Amin The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Eid al-Adha proved to be a promising but short business season for both hotels and restaurants, in Beirut and the mountains, as Arab and foreign tourists were drawn to the country by reasonable prices.

Restaurants, cafes and shops in Beirut’s Central District, which has experienced slow business in the past few months, saw a steady rise in the number of customers during the Eid.

Official statistics issued by the Tourism Ministry Wednesday had shown a 25 percent drop in visitors during the first nine months of 2011, compared to last year, with experts warning turmoil in Syria had immensely affected the sector.

But most hotels in the capital and many in the mountains were fully booked during the past five days.

Pierre Achkar, head of hotel owners association, said he had positive expectations for the tourism sector.

“We expect the demand on hotel rooms in Beirut to remain high, around 130 percent [of capacity], provided that stability is preserved.”

Achkar also said business conferences were a factor in the high demand for hotel rooms.

Yet the situation in Syria, he said, did affect the sector with numbers of Jordanian and Saudi Arabian visitors falling.

Tourism outside Beirut remains low, despite some improvement, since Beirut remains the center of tourist activities, Achkar added.

The Daily Star interviewed a number of Arab and foreign tourists who were either sipping coffee or having a light meal in some of the restaurants in BCD.

Soner, a Turkish computer engineer, said he was here on an attractive tourist package that had cost him around $300, including airline fees and accommodation.

Other travelers from Turkey also said the same.

“Basically, Lebanon is in many ways cheaper [than in Turkey], but certain items like, for instance, souvenirs and gifts were just too expensive for me,” Soner complained.

Walter Sedovic , a New York architect visiting Lebanon for the first time, said he thought prices in Lebanon were very reasonable.

“I think it is reasonable on a world-wide scale. I think hotels are not inexpensive but I think you get a nice value, a very nice quality and very nice accommodation overall.”

Sedovic said he liked the country so much that he would absolutely invite friends to visit.

Peter Mustardo who is also a New Yorker, working in photograph conservation, said he was visiting the country for the third time.

“If you do your homework, you can enjoy Beirut at a very reasonable price,” adding “I am really glad to be here in 2011. I was here in the summer of 2006 and I am really glad to see Beirut alive again and businesses booming.”

Izzeddine Hariri, from Syria, also thought prices were not an issue to complain about.

“Even for accommodation, perhaps the most expensive item in a traveler’s budget, you get a broad choice from $80 or lower up to $600. You can visit Lebanon on a small budget. You get the choice,” he said, adding “for instance, when it comes to upmarket clothing, Lebanon is cheaper than Syria.”

Ahmad Abbas, a hip-hop singer and a businessman from Saudi Arabia, thought prices of shopping were similar to his home country.

When asked about whether he felt tourist prices were more expensive, Abbas thought the tourist had the choice: “For sure, tourist prices are more expensive. Touristy places are much more expensive but this is a choice you make. You can decide for instance to eat here [at Beirut Central District] or eat at a modest restaurant somewhere else. We have tried both.”

Tim, from Spain, also thought tourists visiting Lebanon have a wide range of choices in how much to spend.

“It depends on where you want to stay and how much you intend to pay,” he stressed.

But some travelers did note that prices were rising in Lebanon. Mohammad, from Kuwait, said he felt prices were a bit higher than previous times he had visited the country. Still, he said he managed to book a reasonably priced $50-per-night furnished apartment outside the capital.

“If prices were lower, we would definitely spend more than just 10 days. But I think prices here are similar to Kuwait,” he said.

Carl, from Germany, and a Lebanese co-traveler, said it was impossible to find accommodation inside Beirut during their brief visit.

Number of passengers up but flights down in 2011 November 15, 2011 01:15 AM The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Directorate of Civil Aviation statistics Monday showed an increase in the number of passengers but a decrease in the number of flights in the first 10 months of 2011.

The number of passenger in October rose by a 7.51 percent with a 9.29 percent increase in incoming passengers and a 6.2 percent increase in departing passengers compared to October 2010, the report showed.

This allowed for a 1.67 increase in the total number of passengers in the first 10 months of the year to reach around 629,448 passengers, compared to the same time last year.

Despite the increase in the number of passengers, the number of commercial flights saw a sharp 9.72 percent decrease from October 2010 levels. The decrease was mainly due to a sharp 23.25 percent decrease in transit flights.

Private jet flights also fell by 8.39 percent from last year, the report showed.

Forum seeks to strengthen tourist ties with China November 22, 2011 01:40 AM The Daily Star


BEIRUT: Participants at the first Lebanese-Chinese Tourism Forum, held Monday in Beirut, called on their governments to intensify cooperation in the tourism sector.

Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud said that despite significant commercial and political relations, bilateral tourism is still trivial relative to the two countries’ economies. He explained that in 2010, only 5,400 Chinese tourists had visited Lebanon.

“This very low number called for stepping up activities to promote Lebanon as a destination in China,” he added.

Abboud said this may bolster the number of Chinese tourists in order to reach a level comparable to those Chinese visiting neighboring Jordan and Turkey.

Toward this aim, the Tourism Ministry will hire public relations companies in China. Pierre Achkar, president of Hotel Owners Association, said the forum was an opportunity to foster bilateral relations and strengthen ties between tourism businesses in China and Lebanon.

Lebanon sees increase in airline passengers December 12, 2011 12:31 AM The Daily Star



BEIRUT: Lebanon’s civil aviation recorded an increase in the number of passengers on a year-over-year basis as of November 2011 while the number of flights decreased from the previous month, statistics issued Sunday by the Directorate of Civil Aviation statistics said.

The statistics showed a rise in the number of passengers year over year by 1.54 percent with 5,208,179 passengers, including 746,470 in November 2011.

The total number of passengers in November rose by 0.31 percent with a 0.08 percent increase in incoming passengers but a 0.05 percent decrease in departing passengers compared to November 2010, the report said.

Despite the increase in the number of passengers, the number of commercial flights saw a 2.18 percent decrease in November 2011 compared to November 2010. But the total number of flights increased by 1.78 percent during the first 11 months of the year compared to last year.

Private jet flights fell sharply by 15.85 percent in November 2011 compared to same month last year, the report said while the total number of private jet flights fell by 30 percent year over year.

Air freight through the airport increased by 1,62 percent after imports rose by 9.28 and exports decreased by 7.68 in November 2011 compared to the same month last year while total air freight dropped 5.42 percent in 2011.

Despite the cancellation of most MEA flights during the last three days of November, statistics didn’t reflect a sharp drop in the number of passengers.

MEA pilots had kicked off a strike Nov. 27 after a conflict with management erupted over the sacking of a cancer-stricken pilot.

Tourism high as top hotels fully booked for holiday season December 19, 2011 01:02 AM By Mohamad El Amin The Daily Star


BEIRUT: Lebanon’s tourism sector looked set for a partial rebound over the holidays with Beirut’s premium hotels overbooked, according to a survey conducted by The Daily Star Sunday.

However, many of the capital’s lower-priced hotels reported that rooms are still available during the high season of Christmas and New Year’s Eve.The Tourism Ministry reported Sunday an over-capacity of 105 percent demand on Beirut hotel rooms.

“We expect to have bookings at near full capacity in Beirut hotels during the holiday season,” Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud told The Daily Star.

The Daily Star inquired about room availability at several Beirut hotels, many of which still had vacant rooms for the period from Dec. 24 to Jan.1.

Room charges for the available rooms ranged from $130 for three- and four-star hotels to $400 at more premium hotels.

While hotels in the lower-end range reported availability, premium hotels were fully booked or operating at near full capacity.

At least two of the capital’s major five-star hotels were accepting reservations on a waiting list.

Five-star hotels including Le Gray, Phoenicia, Gefinor Rotana and others in the same range reported being fully booked or had availability particularly in highly priced luxurious suits.

A staff member at a local hotel booking website who did not want to be identified said about 80 percent of all hotel rooms in Beirut were booked as of Sunday. But the staff member at the same time confirmed rooms in three-star and four-star hotels were still available with prices starting as low as $50.

Abboud said that MEA flights from both the Arab Gulf and Europe are operating at near full capacity, showing a significant increase in tourism.

He said his ministry was keen on preparing for a successful season, adding that he had acquired the 105 percent figure from the Hotel Owners’ Association. Pierre Achkar, head of the association, was not available for comment Sunday.

Most incoming tourists are Lebanese expatriates, meaning hotel bookings alone do not reflect the whole picture of what Abboud sees as a profitable season.

“Only 40 percent of those expected to come over the next few days are foreigners. The rest are Lebanese expatriates bound for home,” he added.

But Abboud said the 10-day period is not nearly enough to sustain the tourism industry, adding that Lebanon would need to step up efforts to encourage additional tourists to visit.

He said his ministry was working toward assuring quality of service at hotels and restaurants.

The Tourism Ministry, he said, was preparing to enforce strict measures on establishments that serve alcohol to minors or those reporting price discrepancies during the holidays.

“We will withdraw their licenses,” Abboud warned.

Last week, the Tourism Ministry asked all businesses to submit price lists prior to the commencement of the holiday season.

In an earlier statement Sunday, Abboud said the Tourism Ministry would take steps to help boost the country’s tourism sector over the holiday season, including boosting the activity of tourism police unit.

“Tourism police will be present during the holiday season in a bid to prevent any violations and for the tourist to feel safe,” Abboud told Voice of Lebanon radio station in an interview aired Sunday.

Official statistics issued by the Tourism Ministry Wednesday had shown a 25 percent drop in visitors during the first nine months of 2011 compared to last year, with experts warning that turmoil in Syria had immensely affected the sector, which saw the number of tourists decreasing by some 400,000. Tourism had picked up dramatically last November with hotels reportedly fully booked.

Tourism sector calls for promotion outside Beirut December 22, 2011 01:59 AM The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Tourism establishments are upbeat about the holiday season but called on the government to encourage tourism outside Beirut.

A delegation representing seaside establishments visited the tourism minister to discuss a development plan to encourage tourists to visit attractions outside Beirut through fostering arrangements with travel agencies’ and hotels’ associations across the country.

Beirut hotels see 28 percent drop in occupancy in 2011 January 12, 2012 01:57 AM The Daily Star



BEIRUT: Ernst & Young said hotel room reservations in Beirut in the first 11 months of 2011 fell by 28 percent compared to the same period of 2010.It said the occupancy rate at Beirut hotels was the ninth lowest among 21 markets in the region, while it was the eighth lowest in 2010, as reported by Lebanon This Week, Byblos Bank Group’s economic publication.

The survey said the average rate per room at Beirut hotels was $222 in the first 11 months of 2011, ranking the capital’s hotels as the seventh most expensive in the region.

The average rate per room at Beirut hotels decreased by 14 percent year-on-year and posted the third steepest decrease among all markets in the region, behind Hurghada and Sharm El Shaikh in Egypt.

The average rate per room in Beirut came above the regional average of $188.2, which declined by 1.8 percent from $191.7 in the same period of 2010. Occupancy rates at Beirut hotels were 44 percent in January, 42 percent in February, 53 percent in March, 61 percent in April, 58 percent in May, 62 percent in June, 67 percent in July, 31 percent in August, 76 percent in September, and 74 percent in November; compared to 64 percent in January, 76 percent in February, 68 percent in March, 79 percent in April, 71 percent in May, 77 percent in June, 80 percent in July, 43 percent in August, 53 percent in September, and 73 percent in November 2010.

Revenues per available room (RevPAR) were $129 in Beirut in the first 11 months of 2011, down from $178 in the same period last year, ranking it in 12th place in the region behind Riyadh and Madina.

Beirut’s RevPAR was down 27.6 percent year-on-year, compared to a decrease of 10 percent across the region.

Lebanon sees 22 percent surge in Arab tourists
February 15, 2012 01:43 AM

The Daily Star


BEIRUT: Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud voiced optimism Tuesday about Lebanon’s tourism prospects, highlighting a 22 percent rise in the number of Arab tourists who visited the country last month compared to the same period last year.

“The number of Arab tourists returning to Lebanon is growing. We saw a 21.77 percent increase compared to January 2011,” he said.

Abboud said his ministry’s simple and low-budget tourism promotion campaign launched in various Arabic-language newspapers had helped in the improved tourism. But he complained that his ministry’s 2012 budget fell below the levels required to give a needed boost to the vital sector.

“If we had a real budget for tourism promotion in foreign countries, we would have achieved far better results,” he said, adding tat “the Tourism Ministry has various projects that could boost tourism but lacks funding to implement them.”

But ministry-issued figures for January showed the total number of tourists in January had fallen by 2.15 percent compared to the same period in 2011, reaching 95,816 visitors.

Recently issued 2011 figures, compiled by the Tourism Ministry, show that a total of 739,066 persons used hotels and furnished apartments in Lebanon and spent 1,741,802 nights in such facilities throughout 2011, a decrease of 15.8 percent and 17.3 percent respectively from 2010 figures.

Abboud laments drop in Lebanon tourism, but says rebound possible February 25, 2012 03:16 PM The Daily Star


BEIRUT: Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud said Saturday the number of visitors to Lebanon in 2011 declined by 24 percent over the previous year, but unveiled the ministry’s plan to revive the tourism sector by 2015.

“The crises in the Arab world did not spare Lebanon's tourism sector, which suffered greatly as the total number of visitors to Lebanon in 2011 fell to 1,655,000, a decline of 24 percent from 2010, when the number of visitors reached 2,168,000,” Abboud said, speaking on the second day of a conference entitled "The Arab Spring: Transformations and Expectations” at Sagesse University in Achrafieh.

Abboud attributed the decline in the number of visitors to events in neighboring Syria, which dissuaded many from traveling to Lebanon by land, saying: “The number of Jordanians and Iranians [coming to Lebanon via Syria] was reaching approximately 300,000 annually but this number declined by 70 percent [in 2011] compared to 2010.”

The minister also said that Lebanon's government failed to take advantage of unrest in Arab countries to promote Lebanon and attract tourists, citing the administration's decision not to lower airfare ticket prices and improve infrastructure and other policies related to the tourism sector.

Abboud has maintained that his ministry’s 2012 budget falls below the level required to give a much-needed boost to the vital tourism industry. Figures show that, at 95,816 people, the number of visitors to Lebanon so far this year dipped by 2.15 percent compared to the same period in 2011.

During his speech at the conference, Abboud also unveiled his ministry's plan to boost the annual number of tourists to 4 million by 2015, adding that such a long-term project, which involves implementing agreements regarding tourism and services between Arab countries, requires serious commitment by other ministries in the government.

“We are also working on rehabilitating the Rashid Karami international fairground in Tripoli so as to tranform it into a resort similar to Disney Land and its ilk,” he said, stressing the need to encourage environmental tourism in the country by undertaking the development of a number of islands off the coast of Tripoli.

Outside View
Lebanon on the cusp
Beirut -- and Lebanon -- is ready to shake off problems of the recent past and again become a trendy tourist and business destination.
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Published: April 6, 2012 at 6:30 AM
By T.K. MALOY, UPI Outside View Commentator

BEIRUT, Lebanon, April 6 (UPI) -- What does one say about Beirut -- a colorful, booming, blossoming city, with traffic like nowhere else, warm hospitality, burgeoning political tensions that keeps the government on a tight wire act; lingering animosities amid incredible cultural diversity, but ultimately, a city and country ready to put a fractured past behind it, if only events allow.

Lebanon and its capital city are very cosmopolitan, with global visitors coming both to tour and to conduct business -- particularly in Beirut, which is the primary hub for banking, building, retail, and digital business.

At question is whether this vibrant, hip, chaotic city and the country it represents is at a tipping point up or down economically for the next several years to come.

Banking is still reporting in as a strong sector but elsewhere in the economy questions are arising about how definitive various contractions are. Given the general upheaval of the region, perhaps very definitive!

A recent International Monetary Fund report stated that final growth figures for 2011 are expected to hit between 1-2 percent, dropping from an 8 percent average during 2007-10, "with real estate, tourism, retail and wholesale trade -- key drivers of recent high growth -- having been hit hard."

After a strong showing of several years, tourism dropped 23.7 percent to 1,666,051 visitors in 2011 versus 2,167,989 tourists in 2010 largely because of concerns about the growing scope of fighting in neighboring Syria. To make matters worse, many would-be travelers, particularly from Europe and the United States are cutting back on traveling as they tighten their personal budgets.

Yet Beirut is betting on the fact that its numerous high-end hotels, top-shelf dining and bars, along with the sun and sand will continue to attract visitors from around the world. Also, the country is home to a number of spectacular historical spots and World Heritage sites.

And there is also a high glitterati quotient to the capital, both from visitors and Beirutis alike. Whether it's a trip to "City Mall" on the weekend, an evening of theater at the Casino du Luban, a performance by Maraca Salsa at the Al Bustan Festival, or an evening at the famous Sky Bar -- the glitter is on display.

Beirut is famous for its many affluent districts, such as Gemmayzeh, Achrafiyeh, the central downtown district, which includes the Solidare (a key reconstruction project after the decimation of the civil war) and Verdun. All of which are high-end shopping and dining areas. I have been residing in the singular Hamra district near to the American University Beirut and Lebanese American University.

Hamra is considered by some to be one of the more colorful and eclectic commercial districts of the city. It is well known for its high-street shops, trendy fashion shows both on Hamra Street and the Rue Bliss by AUB, and also as the location of a large number of hotels, furnished apartments and endless take-a-ways and coffee shops patronized by visitors, residents and students.

However, what becomes obvious almost immediately are high prices for many goods, services, hotels and dinning in Beirut. These prices are in stark contrast to the wage levels of executive, retail and dinning workers.

Even a well-heeled visitor, which this correspondent is not, could quickly go broke, particularly in Beirut, unless they keep a careful eye on spending.

One longtime American expatriate describes Beirut as having "First World aspirations but not quite making it on the wage and other levels."

A fact of life in Beirut are the often power outages, where everything shuts off for a moment and then private generators snap on.

If one is in the right company, the momentary darkness can be considered romantic, but is not the biggest selling point for convention-promoters and other business people.

A $1.2 billion funding bill endorsed by the Cabinet last year for improvements in the electricity sector has yet to be implemented sufficiently to show meaningful infrastructure changes. Also current fiscal limitations are testing the government's ability to make improvements in other key areas, such as water, which is being used at near the limits of its availability.

One Lebanese business analyst said the economy of the nation can be viewed two ways: both as a "dynamic growth market" but also a county that is burdened by a large public debt borrowed largely from domestic banks. After the 1975-90 Lebanese Civil War, Beirut has been on a long-term spending binge to rebuild and modernize. Though a largely successful effort, it has required much more spending than supported by taxes or other government revenues.

The recent IMF report also noted: "Still government debt at 134 percent of (gross domestic product) at end-October 2011 remains among the highest in the world and gives rise to large recurrent financing needs."

Nevertheless, Lebanon, and particularly Beirut, has gained status as a financial center in the region, in part attributable to its strong private banking system, which is open to foreign investment and maintains secrecy laws that have earned the country yet another nickname -- the "Switzerland of the Middle East."

Also, a large amount of remittances -- in percentage terms -- come into the country from Lebanese abroad back to their families. At an estimated 10 million people, the Lebanese Diaspora is more than twice the population of the country, which has just more than 4 million residents.

World Bank figures for 2010 indicated remittances totaled $8.2 billion and account for one fifth of the country's economy.

On the question of social strife -- there is a general reluctance on the part of the Lebanese people to discuss or dwell on the lengthy civil war or more recent troubles, of which there are a long list. The pertaining attitude about the civil war, in particular, is that they would rather forget it and move on. Many express hope for a more unified and profitable future for Beirut as a business hub and tourist destination.

A Bank of Audi report notes: "The local political tensions and widespread regional political disturbances left their imprints on the performance of the trade and service sector in 2011. Tourism activity contracted after vibrant years in 2009 and 2010."

The 23 percent drop in tourism was the most substantial decrease since 2006 after the brief -- but costly -- conflict between Hezbollah with Israel. This closed Beirut's port, airport and the majority of major roads after a heavy Israeli bombing campaign.

But Lebanon and the Lebanese are nothing if not resilient -- somewhat like the boxer who just won't stay down even after an economic roundhouse punch.

Riad Behni, manager of the recently opened Dar Bistro and Books in Hamra is running an establishment with an appeal for culturati and foodies alike -- including locals, students and visitors. One finds both earnest laptoppers and dining couples on any given evening. Off a short alley from Roma Street, Dar is in an impeccably restored old French-style house, with muted charm, good service, and a well-heeled Bohemian clientele.

Behni, like many business people, is taking a confident wait-and-see attitude, noting that in the case of Dar the establishment is in its first seven months of business. It has started to make its name locally and with foreigners, and the upcoming tourist season is just around the corner.

This wait-and-see attitude describes a great deal of the country's economic sentiment.

Also, amid the larger region known as the Middle East, most Lebanese like to note, there is something different about Beirut and Lebanon.

Because of the cultural diversity -- ethnic and religious -- fluency of residents in Arabic, French and English, and because of its hip aura, many Lebanese point out, "this isn't just the Middle East, it's Lebanon!"

--

(T.K. Maloy, is UPI's former chief Business and Economics editor. He has previously worked in the Middle East at The National, an English-language newspaper in the United Arab Emirates and taught in Ramallah/West Bank. He is currently residing in Beirut.)

--

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Analysis/Outside-View/2012/04/06/Outside-View-Lebanon-on-the-cusp/UPI-96781333708200/#ixzz1rIQKOhR5

Nshallah kheir abel ma yter2ouna bi shi el mashkaljiyye :)

Abboud expects tourist numbers to exceed 3 mln April 21, 2012 01:19 AM The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s tourism minister said Friday he expected the number of tourists to the country at the end of 2012 to exceed 3 million.

“I expect a very good season this year,” Fadi Abboud said, adding that “investments in tourism are extremely good despite the fall in the number of tourists entering Lebanon through Syria.”

He noted that a 22 percent increase in activity at Rafik Hariri International Airport during the first quarter of 2012 suggested significant improvement in tourism.

“We have seen the number of Saudi tourists soaring from just 4,000 [during the first quarter of 2011] to over 30,000 during the same period this year,” Abboud added.

Abboud expects tourist numbers to exceed 3 mln April 21, 2012 01:19 AM The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s tourism minister said Friday he expected the number of tourists to the country at the end of 2012 to exceed 3 million.

“I expect a very good season this year,” Fadi Abboud said, adding that “investments in tourism are extremely good despite the fall in the number of tourists entering Lebanon through Syria.”

He noted that a 22 percent increase in activity at Rafik Hariri International Airport during the first quarter of 2012 suggested significant improvement in tourism.

“We have seen the number of Saudi tourists soaring from just 4,000 [during the first quarter of 2011] to over 30,000 during the same period this year,” Abboud added.

I hope..but hes always overly optimistic....We still didn't erase the decline from last years 1st quarter...We would need a very very significant growth after the declines of last year are erased. Personally hope for a return to 2010 levels

tourists who used to go to syria and egypt are coming to lebanon. However can our country and infrastructure support such a large number? Imagine the traffic jam (especially that no one uses public transport)

tourists who used to go to syria and egypt are coming to lebanon. However can our country and infrastructure support such a large number? Imagine the traffic jam (especially that no one uses public transport)

Yes but remember over 300k travel by car thru Syria.. that is significant..thats part of the drop last year...it wasnt/isnt safe now.

Tourist numbers still in freefall
April 23, 2012 01:16 AM
The Daily Star

Although the number of tourists is down, tourist spending has increased.


BEIRUT: The number of tourists fell 7.9 percent in the first quarter of 2012 compared to last year, according to figures issued by the Central Administration of Statistics over the weekend.

The number of tourists totaled 313,854 in the first quarter, falling from 340,670 in the first quarter of 2011, the report said.

The figures carry a particularly negative outlook given that the first quarter of 2011 saw a significant decline from 2010 levels.

The Tourism Ministry figures released in April 2011 showed that Lebanon saw a 13 percent drop in tourist arrivals during the first quarter of 2011, compared to the first quarter of 2010.

Analysts and officials say the turmoil across Syria remains a major reason behind the decrease in the number of tourists, as visitors who typically enter Lebanon from Syria have no longer been able to do so.

However, despite the lower number of tourists, figures issued by Global Blue, the Value Added Tax refund operator, showed that total spending by tourists increased by 36 percent during the same period.

According to the report, published in Byblos Bank’s weekly newsletter, tourists from Saudi Arabia spent the most while in Lebanon, accounting for 22 percent of all spending.

Eighty-six percent of tourist spending was reported in Beirut followed by Metn, Kesrouan and Baabda, which scored 11 percent, 2 percent and 1 percent respectively.

Last week Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud said he was optimistic about the tourism sector’s performance in 2012, predicting Lebanon would see some 3 million visitors by the end of the year.

Abboud said higher activity at Rafik Hariri International Airport signaled a recovery in the sector.

Activity at Beirut’s international airport increased significantly in the first quarter of 2012 as the number of passengers soared by 21 percent year-on-year to reach 2,242,379, a report issued by the Civil Aviation Authority Thursday showed.

The disparity between the number of tourists and the stronger performance of the airport suggests that Lebanese travelers and expats accounted for the increase in airport activity.

According to the CAS report, Arab tourists accounted for 43.2 percent of total visitors in the first three months of 2012.

Europeans came second accounting for 28 percent of tourists.

Visitors from the Americas came third with 11.3 percent and Asians were 10.8 percent. Africans accounted for 4.4 percent of tourists.

The number of African tourists increased 25.4 percent in the first quarter of 2012 while the number of Arab tourists increased by 19 percent. The number of Asian tourists dropped a whopping 60 percent.

The total number of tourists who entered the country in March fell by 11.22 percent to 135,691 compared to the same period last year.

The number of tourists had declined 24 percent in 2011 compared to 2010 levels.

I hope..but hes always overly optimistic....We still didn't erase the decline from last years 1st quarter...We would need a very very significant growth after the declines of last year are erased. Personally hope for a return to 2010 levels

Yesss true,he's unrealistic ma that's why I put the report here loool,but still I'm hoping to get the 3 million record :)

Yesss true,he's unrealistic ma that's why I put the report here loool,but still I'm hoping to get the 3 million record :)

Tourists are not spending anymore money due to very high costs.
It's incredible if you go to hard rock cafe you will find the simple 9000LL kefraya wine at 58000 LL it's insaaaane! :bash: oh and the simple almaza beer of 1500LL at 9000LL!!
We should fight to stop that!

Does Hard Rock still exist????You should see Zaatar w Zait and Crepaway prices

Does Hard Rock still exist????You should see Zaatar w Zait and Crepaway prices

2500LL small bottle of water(you can buy it at 500LL in small shops). 9000LL small crepe. 9000LL Ice cream (for god sake) Coffee at Lina's 9000LL!!!!!!!!!!! why??

I understand they must increase prices in order to adjust their employees salaries. However there is a difference between increasing prices and stealing. How can we fight that ? We can't even take a cab anymore. Sth must be done immediately. The government is always broke and is losing money instead of gaining it because again politicians are stealing. :):bash:

Recently all prices increased way before government declared bonuses. lol it's unbelievable

Well its supply and demand if they are willing to pay great..if not the business has to lower prices or closes

Expect more touristic reports about Lebanon on CNN

By Rami on April 27, 2012 in Lebanon

http://1.1.1.3/bmi/www.plus961.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/CNN.png

According to this article in Al-Akhbar today, the Lebanese ministry of tourism is planning to pay one million dollars to CNN for promotional reports and programs about Lebanon over a period of 2 months in order to boost the tourism sector after the number of tourists visiting Lebanon declined by 300,000 in 2011 due the instability in Syria.

The deal will include reports about Lebanon to be featured in “Quest Means Business” by Richard Quest, “World Business Today”, and a dedicated program called “Eye on Lebanon” for a whole week.

I hope this improves Lebanon’s image abroad for a change, and maybe stops people from comparing ever messed up place to Beirut.

Source:

http://www.plus961.com/2012/04/expect-more-touristic-reports-about-lebanon-on-cnn/

Expect more touristic reports about Lebanon on CNN

By Rami on April 27, 2012 in Lebanon

http://1.1.1.3/bmi/www.plus961.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/CNN.png

According to this article in Al-Akhbar today, the Lebanese ministry of tourism is planning to pay one million dollars to CNN for promotional reports and programs about Lebanon over a period of 2 months in order to boost the tourism sector after the number of tourists visiting Lebanon declined by 300,000 in 2011 due the instability in Syria.

The deal will include reports about Lebanon to be featured in “Quest Means Business” by Richard Quest, “World Business Today”, and a dedicated program called “Eye on Lebanon” for a whole week.

I hope this improves Lebanon’s image abroad for a change, and maybe stops people from comparing ever messed up place to Beirut.

Source:

http://www.plus961.com/2012/04/expect-more-touristic-reports-about-lebanon-on-cnn/

Now that's what i am talkin about! this should have been done long time ago!

Tourists cancel hotel reservations in Lebanon May 21, 2012 01:27 AM By Mohamad El Amin The Daily Star


BEIRUT: North Lebanon’s volatile security conditions could threaten the country’s peak tourist season as hotels started to report cancellations Sunday, only one day after three Arab Gulf States warned citizens against vacationing in Beirut.

All except one of several hotels contacted by The Daily Star admitted that they have started to see cancellations since last week, when clashes started in Tripoli, Lebanon’s second-biggest city.

While some hotels reported that only a handful of clients have cancelled so far, others said they have already seen cancellations as high as 30 percent. Many hotels admitted seeing cancellations but refused to provide numbers, citing confidentiality issues.

A staff member at Monroe Hotel, located on the seaside of the Beirut Central District, told The Daily Star that cancellations have ranged from 25 to 30 percent of all reservations since the clashes started last week.

“Today alone we received a cancellation request for a 50-person tourist group,” said a reservation desk employee at the hotel.

The reservation desk of the Commodore Hotel in Hamra said their cancellations amounted to the equivalent of 50 nights of rooms.

“The figure stands between 5 and 10 percent of all reservations,” the employee said, adding that the majority of cancellations came from citizens of Gulf Cooperation Council states.

The employee noted that many Arab and Western countries are taking measures to prevent citizens from visiting Lebanon because of security conditions.

Staff at Sheraton Four Points, a four-star Sheraton hotel in Verdun, reported that some 11 percent of bookings were cancelled since the fighting in Tripoli started.

The employee added that Sunday saw many GCC citizens cancelling reservations based on warnings issued by their respective countries.

The cancellations followed statements issued by the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain Saturday. The three countries called on their citizens to avoid travel to Lebanon and asked for those in the country to depart given the tense security situation.

The situation was only slightly better at Phoenicia and Habtoor Grand, two of the capital’s biggest hotels, where reservation desk staff said they have seen cancellations at a rate of around 5 percent each.

But staff at the two hotels said they expected more cancellations to follow next week, as many travel agencies were closed Sunday.

Last week armed clashes between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in Tripoli claimed the lives of 11 people.

The Lebanese Army, which deployed to the area Tuesday, brought an end to the fighting and imposed a truce. But security across north Lebanon deteriorated Sunday when two Muslim preachers were killed in Akkar.

The events raised questions on whether Lebanon would be able to attract the number of tourists and expats that it usually expects this time of year. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, Lebanon depends on tourism for 10 percent of its GDP, equivalent to around $4.3 billion.

Ernst & Young’s benchmark survey of the Middle East hotel sector indicated last month that the average occupancy rate at hotels in Beirut increased to 66 percent in the first quarter of 2012 compared to 47 percent in the same quarter last year.

The stronger figures had suggested recovery from 2011 slump, when turmoil across neighboring Syria and other Arab countries took a heavy toll on the tourism sector. Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud earlier called on the authorities to contain the clashes in the north, warning that further escalation would harm summer tourism.

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/05/25/216487.html

^^ all we need now is tourists to go there :D

now we are officially screwed ...