Tourism News

[ramynasser]

Originally Posted by Win_RN

Wissarb,

Don´t worry, let´s forget that, ok? But try to figure out how we feel knowing that we´ll go to a place where a conflict may emerge since the region is a bit unstable. And we´ll bring a child with us so it´s even more concerning for us.

But I´m relieved that according to you things are back to normal. We wanna have a great time in Lebanon and I´m specially excited about it since my family (through my father´s side) comes from Palestine and for the first time I will go to the Middle East.

Greetings,

Rodrigo

my advice now, because of the cvurrent unstable situation try to avoid the bekaa region and tripoli and you'll be more than safe and happy.

[Hassoun]

Tripoli is safe,apart from jabal mehsen , beb l tebbeneh , whish was never a touristic attraction anyway

[marc.libano]

Originally Posted by Win_RN

Wissarb,

Don´t worry, let´s forget that, ok? But try to figure out how we feel knowing that we´ll go to a place where a conflict may emerge since the region is a bit unstable. And we´ll bring a child with us so it´s even more concerning for us.

But I´m relieved that according to you things are back to normal. We wanna have a great time in Lebanon and I´m specially excited about it since my family (through my father´s side) comes from Palestine and for the first time I will go to the Middle East.

Greetings,

Rodrigo

Rodrigo yes I deleted My facebook , it doesn't let me work and sleep , and I need time , deleting facebook was the solution LOL
Well I understand your worries , and you're going with a child , but you will go with a libanese friend so i think will be Ok , for us all this that you see on TV is normal , but i swear it's not a big thing on TV just show the bad things just like the war of traffic in Rio 2 years ago , hundreds were killed , but it was it some places and everything was controled , and i was in Rio having a great time on the beach while a big war was being 5 minutes from there ! i just maked this comparison to understand whats happening !
Sorry for the bad english i even prefer portugues but i respect that this forum is in english

[annie23]

Hotels dismiss staff over low tourism October 03, 2012 12:58 AM By Mohamad El Amin


The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s hospitality sector has begun to dismiss employees following a sharp decline in business, a leading hotelier told The Daily Star.

“We are being forced to reduce the number of staff in the sector. Some people were put on unpaid leave and new vacancies are not being filled by new people,” Pierre Achkar, head of the Lebanon’s Hotels Association, said Tuesday.

Achkar refused to estimate the percentage of laid-off employees, adding that “it is still at the beginning but we fear the worst would happen if things continue in this direction.”

He added that some hotels and restaurants are downsizing operations and closing down hotel floors and restaurant branches particularly in areas hit by a sharp decline in tourists over the past few months.

Seasonal employment of part-time workers, who are hired to accommodate extra business in high tourism seasons during holidays and the summer, were cut down by more than 70 percent from numbers employed in the last few years, he said.

Beirut hotels, Achkar estimated, have been down by no less than 45 percent throughout 2012. But the situation outside the capital is even worse.

“In Beirut, we are operating at 55 percent of last year’s business. I would not even discuss the situation in [Mount Lebanon], which is simply disastrous,” he added.

Asked how the business was dealing with the downfall, Achkar said hotels and restaurants were resorting to “crisis management.”

“But we cannot keep managing the crisis for long and there are little signs of improvement. The current crisis has been lurking for a long time.”

While the Tourism Ministry has insisted on spending money on tourism promotion in Europe, Achkar says he is highly skeptical that such initiatives would bear fruit.

“We need to promote Lebanon in the countries still sending visitors including Jordan, Iraq and the Gulf Cooperation Council states,” he said. “We will never see an improvement in European visitors as long as the situation in the region remains fragile.

“How can you convince someone in, say France, that the situation is good and there are no kidnappings taking place?” he asked.

According to a recent report by the Tourism Ministry, the number of visitors decreased by 12.43 percent in the first eight months of 2012.

Compared to 2010, when Lebanon’s tourism sector performed much better, the number of tourists was 33.87 percent lower, the report showed. The number of tourists in 2012 was lower by 140,106 and 505,483 than in 2011 and 2010 respectively.

Meanwhile, the Ernst & Young Middle East hotel benchmark survey showed that Beirut’s top-end hotels saw a sharp 14-percent decline in occupancy in July. Room yields suffered from a 44-percent decline in the same month, the report added.

Nevertheless, aggregate numbers for the first seven months of the year show that occupancy increased by 7 percent compared to the same period in 2011. Room yields were also up by 6.6 percent, the report showed.

Lebanon’s Hotels Association has before dismissed the survey as unrepresentative for not including hotels outside the capital and focusing only on a small selection of high-end hotels.

The month of August saw 114,929 tourists, 26.88 percent less than July, according to the report, which noted that the Muslim holy month of Ramadan fell in the first part of the month.

The same period coincided with travel warnings issued by most Gulf Cooperation Council states.

[AmeriLEB]

Metropolitan Palace Hotel closes: sources
November 01, 2012 02:13 AM
The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Hilton International decided to close down one of its partner hotels in Lebanon, industry sources told The Daily Star Wednesday.

Metropolitan Palace Hotel is one of two hotels co-owned by Hilton International in Lebanon and was opened in 2001 in the Beirut eastern suburb of Sin al-Fil. It remains unclear what prompted the decision to shut it down, leaving more than 150 employees without jobs, the sources said.

The other partner hotel is the Hilton Grand Habtoor Hotel, which is located across the road from the Metropolitan and is connected to it by a covered pedestrian bridge.

[Tabouleh]

What's the matter with Hilton! They just build and buy hotels and close them? The same thing happened to the one downtown... Why buy in the first place if you don't have solid enough feet to whether the current situation...

[Hassoun]

Update: Metropolitan Hotel administration denied the news officially.

[AmeriLEB]

Whew

[annie23]

No joy for Beirut hotels this Christmas December 08, 2012 01:04 AM By Mohamad El Amin The Daily Star



BEIRUT: Most of the hotels in the Lebanese capital report slow reservations only a few weeks before Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

A sample of hotels in Beirut contacted by The Daily Star all said they were operating at very low occupancy well into December, which they noted usually sees business soar to near full-occupancy levels.

“We have no confirmed reservations. We are only receiving last-minute reservations and no guaranteed ones,” a reservation officer at Markazia Monroe Suites told The Daily Star.

As with most of Beirut hotels, the officer said occupancy is not exceeding 30 percent, a mediocre rate compared to previous years.

Asked whether the hotel had been receiving tourists, the officer said most of their guests were people on business trips staying for just a few nights.

Movenpick, a leading five-star Beirut hotel, said occupancy rates had fallen from last year but declined to give exact figures.

A marketing representative also told The Daily Star most bookings were happening at the last-minute, with many guests declining to make confirmed bookings with credit card numbers.

But some hotels reported better occupancy rates.

A spokesperson for of the Gefinor Rotana, Raouché Arjaan, Tamar Rotana hotels in Beirut said the average occupancy at the three premises so far in December stood at 60 percent.

However, the spokesperson added that the hotel’s management expected the rates to only see a marginal increase during the holidays, in the last week of December.

At Beverly Residence Hotel, a 45-room hotel in Hamra, the situation is far from optimal.

“We have not received any reservations for the holidays. Those staying are on treatment trips [given the close location to the American University Hospital,” the reservation desk staff told The Daily Star by telephone.

Out of the 46 rooms, no more than 10 are currently occupied. In the past, the officer said, December had usually been one of the busiest times of the year.

At the Beirut Golden Plaza Hotel, an officer reported very low occupancy for the holiday season, adding that only 30 to 40 percent of rooms were currently occupied.

Lebanon’s tourism sector saw a marked decline in 2012 after most Gulf Cooperation Council states issued travel warnings effectively banning their citizens from visiting the country.

This, in addition to the Syrian conflict, which made land routes to Lebanon inaccessible to GCC and Jordanian tourists, has resulted in a 16 percent decline in the number of tourists coming to the country in the first 10 months of the year.

A drop in the number of visitors from Arab countries exceeded 45 percent, compared to the first 10 months of 2010.

Despite the delcine, Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud has voiced optimism for the upcoming holidays. He said most flights to Beirut during Christmas and New Year’s Eve had already been fully booked.

Abboud did admit, however, that the situation in the region had been weighing heavily on the sector. “But the situation in Egypt, Cyprus and Greece [is not any better] and we have to remain positive to pass through this difficult stage,” he added.

[AmeriLEB]

One-stop shop for touristic licensing
Ministry of Tourism reaches out to private sector

The Ministry of Tourism (MoT) has inaugurated the first one-stop shop to process licensing requests from private developers of touristic facilities. Initiated in collaboration with the Minister of State for Administrative Reform, the office is located within the Ministry and will be fully operational as of early 2013.

The office was listed on the MoT’s 2010 business plan, and was funded by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

The one-stop shop will facilitate and simplify administrative processes within the MoT, in order to stimulate investment in one of the country’s most vital sectors.

Entrepreneurs and sites owners will be able to present all their official documentation at this single office, instead of being referred to different offices at every step of the application.

Paul Ariss, head of the Syndicate of Restaurants Owners said that this initiative was long overdue. “It is a positive step and will have a good impact on the Tourism sector.”

Minister of Tourism Fadi Abboud said: “The MoT is effectively working to evolve from an administrative function to a development planner in collaboration with the private sector.”

The one-stop shop will reduce the paperwork and time of each application. “It is an important step towards the future automation and digitalization of the Ministry’s workflow. Once implemented, it will gradually lead to e-government,” Minister of State for Administrative Reform Mohammad Fneish said.
Reported by Rana Freifer

[wissarb]

Lebanese Government to Launch “50% for 50 Days” Campaign on Jan. 8th, 2013

December 18, 2012

H.E Najib Mikati, Lebanese Prime Minister held a meeting at the Grand Serail with the “Lebanese Council for Promotions” to discuss means of promoting the Lebanese tourism in the upcoming days. The meeting was attended by the H.E Fadi Abboud Lebanese Minister of Tourism, Director General of the Ministry of Tourism Nada Sardouk, Director General of the Ministry of Information, Dr. Hassan Falha, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wafik Rahimi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Middle East Airlines Mohammad Hout, and Chairman of the Tourist Trade Union Pierre Ashkar.

After the meeting, Minister Abboud told the media: “We held today the first meeting with the “Lebanese Council for Promotions”, and we decided to launch the “50% for 50 Days” campaign in Lebanon, starting January 8th till February 28th, 2013. The campaign includes discounts on airfares, hotels, car rentals as well as private cars, along with special packages on restaurants and shopping.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Middle East Airlines Mohammad Hout also stated in the meeting that this campaign will also include special packages with tickets and hotels at prices not seen in Lebanon before. “

[annie23]

We want 50% for us too ,gooood it's even more expensive than Europe

[annie23]

Lebanon


Beirut’s five-star hotel occupancy falls to 56 percent

December 24, 2012 12:36 AM

The Daily Star



The number of tourists declined 15.8 percent in the first 10 months of 2012.





BEIRUT: Hotel occupancy at Lebanon’s five-star hotels fell to 56 percent in the first 10 months of 2012 with rates particularly low since August, Ernst & Young’s monthly survey showed. “The occupancy rate at Beirut hotels was the fifth lowest among 21 markets in the region, while it was the seventh lowest in the same period last year,” said Byblos Bank in its weekly economic publication, quoting the report.

Occupancy rates in Beirut in 2012 were 60 percent in January, 64 percent in February, 74 percent in March, 66 percent in April, 67 percent in May, 58 percent in June, 53 percent in July, 34 percent in August, 46 percent in September and 39 percent in October.

The average rate per room decreased by 9.7 percent, posting the fourth-steepest decrease in the region.

The average rate per room at Beirut hotels was $198 in the first 10 months of 2012, 11th in the region, above the regional average of $186.1, which increased by a marginal 0.6 percent from the same period last year.

Further, revenues per available room (RevPAR) were $112 in Beirut in the 10 months of 2012, down from $124 in the same period last year, and ranking it in 12th place in the region.

Beirut’s RevPAR fell by 9.6 percent year-on-year, compared to an increase of 6.6 percent across the region, and posted the second steepest decrease in the region.

Lebanon has been suffering from a sharp decrease in tourism in 2012 and 2011. The number of tourists declined 15.8 percent in the first 10 months of 2012 compared to 2011 and by more than 36 percent compared to 2010.

The Lebanese Hotel Association has said that occupancy rates are much lower than Ernst & Young’s estimates, which only surveys high-end five-star hotels in the capital.

Dubai-Beach posted the highest average room rate in the region at $339 and the highest RevPAR at $264, while Dubai-Apartments posted the highest regional occupancy of 86 percent in the first 10 months of 2012.

[annie23]

Christmastime respite fails to dispel tourism woes January 03, 2013 12:58 AM By Mohamad El Amin The Daily Star



BEIRUT: Restaurants breathed a sigh of relief during the season’s festivities but the sector’s troubles are far from over as slow tourism lingers into 2013.

“The last 10 days of December were good. Occupancy at restaurants improved to a decent 70 to 80 percent and we were almost fully booked for New Year’s Eve,” Tony al-Rami, secretary-general of the Restaurants Association, told The Daily Star.

“But 10 days a year are not enough to sustain a tourism industry. We can only hope 2013 will, somehow, turn out different than we expect,” he added.

Unlike restaurants, hotels reported only a minor improvement in occupancy during Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

“Hotel occupancy only improved during the last few days of December. We are talking about the last two to fourdays, when occupancy increased to around 70 percent,” Pierre Achkar, head of the Hotel Owners Association, told The Daily Star.

Average occupancy rates have been as low as 30 percent for several months, he added.

“Yes restaurants saw extra business, like every year. But this is simply because of the Lebanese way of life. Even during the Civil War when thousands of shells were falling, we were going out,” he said.

The lack of Arab tourists, responsible for some 65 percent of tourism revenues, remains an unbearable challenge for the sector, Achkar added

“We have built a whole economy dependent on tourism, we cannot sustain it by ourselves,” he said.

Many businesses, particularly restaurants, have been forced to close down during the last few months. Tens of restaurants on Downtown’s Maarad Street, a hotspot for GCC tourists, were also set to close by the beginning of 2013. This follows travel warnings issued by most GCC states since last summer.

Amid decreasing tourism revenues and a countrywide economic slowdown, Rami said his association was banking strongly on a Tourism Ministry plan offering 50 days of 50 percent discounts starting Jan. 8.

“We have high hopes for the plan, and restaurants will be playing a big role offering set menus at highly discounted prices,” he said. “Most restaurants have pledged to take part in the plan.”

Hotels and airlines, he added, will be also offering sizable discounts of up to 50 percent to tourists.

In addition to many remarks about the technicalities of the plan and the countries it targets, Achkar is skeptical the plan will help shore up tourism at all.

“The whole issue is political. What you really need is a neutral government that is able to talk to Gulf Cooperation Council states,” he said.

“We have been already offering discounts of up to 60 percent. The only thing left is to actually pay tourists to come,” Achkar added.

[AmeriLEB]

MEA slashes prices by half
Promotion seeks to bring back Arab visitors

In line with the Ministry of Tourism’s (MoT) ‘50 days of discounts for tourists’ campaign, Middle East Airlines (MEA) has officially launched the ‘Nextra super-low booking fares’ promotion. The period of the promotion begins on Tuesday (January 8) and extends until February 28.

Throughout this period prices of MEA tickets to Lebanon from all destinations will be reduced by 50 percent. The discounted package includes, in addition to the flight tickets, a three-night stay at a hotel with reduced rates, and the cost of transportation from and to the airport.

Arab visitors will benefit from the highest price reductions, in an attempt from the MoT to bring back discouraged Arab tourists. The lowest offer for most Arab visitors is priced at $415 and includes a three-night stay at a three-star hotel in Hamra. The highest package, which includes a three-night stay at a five-star hotel such as the Four Seasons, is priced at $1,205.

European tourists will also benefit from low fares. The lowest offer for visitors from Europe is priced at $590, and the highest is priced at $1,380.

Reported by Rana Freifer

[annie23]

Big discounts, low turnout at Lebanon’s shopping festival January 22, 2013 01:05 AM By Brooke Anderson The Daily Star



BEIRUT: Big discounts for airline tickets, hotels and shops in a mountainous coastal country in the Mediterranean probably sound like a great idea to attract tourists – but apparently not if the place is Lebanon.

Two weeks into a 50-day nationwide discounts initiative launched at the beginning of the year by the Tourism Ministry in a bid to boost the country’s ailing services sector, Lebanon’s luxury hotels and shopping thoroughfares remain relatively empty.

“Frankly, the tourists and visitors did not stop coming to Lebanon over the past two years because prices are elevated. They have been avoiding Lebanon because of legitimate security and stability concerns,” Nassib Ghobril, head of research at Byblos Bank told The Daily Star.

“Ten years ago we had successful shopping festivals during the offseason that were accompanied by media campaigns targeting expatriates as well as Arab nationals. But we had security and stability at the time, and the festivals and accompanying campaigns were based on that premise,” Ghobril said.

The number of tourists that visited Lebanon in 2012 fell more than 17 percent from 2011 and 37 percent below the levels recorded in 2010, according to the most recent figures. The number of visitors from Jordan, Kuwait, the UAE and Turkey fell between 19 to 44 percent each.

Head of the Hotel Owners Association Pierre Ashkar said in a statement that the shopping festival did not produce the desired results.

“The decision to launch the shopping festival was taken in a hasty way by the Tourism Ministry,” Ashkar added.

He stressed that usually a large media and TV campaign is launched before the announcement of the shopping festival.

Ashkar noted that tourism in Lebanon usually depended on the Arab Gulf nationals, but their absence in the past two years has dealt a severe blow to this sector.

But Ashkar believes that the reports of withdrawal of foreign investments in Lebanon are a bit exaggerated because hotel income is not only generated through room occupancy but also via property investments.

“Any real estate investment in Lebanon is usually profitable” the hotel magnate said.

Many hotels have expressed displeasure with the falling number of tourists and visitors.

The Four Seasons hotel in Ain al-Mreisseh has dropped prices for rooms, but with no noticeable result.

Bookings are now at 30 percent, whereas they are normally at 60 percent this time of year. Most of the guests are in town for business, not tourism, said Roula Mansour, who works in reservations at the hotel.

Le Gray, in Beirut’s central district, has also dropped its room fees in an effort to attract guests. But the hotel’s marketing manager Hilal Saade said he was frustrated at what he sees as a lack of coordination in implementing the initiative.

First, he said Le Gray was not invited to the meeting with the minister in December. He added that they were later sent an email with a link to the participating hotels that were offering packages with Middle East Airlines, which didn’t include Le Gray.

As a result, he said, “We created our own 50 percent package, which we sent to tour operators in town.” So far, the revenue is similar to what they experienced last year. As for the initiative, he said, “It’s a good idea, but it needs to be more organized.”

In Downtown, high-end boutiques display “50 percent off” signs in their windows, but customers are few.

The streets are empty, and many shops have closed because of slow business. Ets. Nakhle is selling its evening gowns for half price, and vendors say prices can’t go any lower given the area’s high rent.

Last year, they say they were getting much more business selling at just 25 percent off. Down the street, the linen store Frette is also selling for 50 percent off, but the store is empty.

At Patchi the gourmet chocolatier, also selling goods at up to 50 percent off, vendors await customers with samples of candy in their crystal bowls. They say business is much slower than usual this time of year, blaming the slump in sales on weather and the security situation.

“The first step toward reassuring would-be visitors and tourists is to restore security and stability in a way to bring back the confidence and accompanying comfort level of potential tourists,” Ghobril suggests. “I certainly hope the ‘50 percent discounts’ campaign helps, but it would have been even more helpful if it was part of an overall national rebranding campaign, given the battering that the country’s image has taken over the past two years.”

[annie23]

Fifty car rental firms in Lebanon close in past two years

BEYROUTH | iloubnan.info - January 28, 2013, 09h06

The Syndicate of Car Rental Agencies in Lebanon announced that around 50 car rental firms have closed their operations in the last two years, due mainly to the decline of tourism activity in the country, as reported by ‘Lebanon This Week’, the economic publication of the Byblos Bank Group.

It noted that many companies have shut down their operations and sold their entire fleet of cars to limit their losses, but have kept their operating licenses. It said that the car rental business has regressed by around 70% when compared to a normal year for tourism. It expected additional closures of such companies in case the negative political and security situation continues to affect the tourism sector, and if Arab Gulf countries maintain their travel warnings to Lebanon. It said that warnings of GCC governments to their nationals against traveling to Lebanon have negatively affected the car rental sector, as tourists from GCC countries account for around 35% of the sector's business and more than 60% of its revenues.
It noted that Arab tourists tend to rent large-size cars in general, which leads to higher profit margins.

There were around 200 operational car rental agencies Lebanon prior to the deterioration of political and security conditions in the country in early 2011. The market is highly fragmented, with a small portion of large companies in terms of fleet size and a large number of small players with a modest fleet. The total car rental fleet in Lebanon was around 17,000 vehicles at the end of 2010, with the top 5 car rental companies accounting for 21.5% of the total, according to Byblos Research. In general, the high season for car rentals runs from the start of July to September 15th and from December 15th to January 5th, as well as during major religious holidays and the ski season. However, the core season is much shorter, as it lasts 45 days only from mid-July till the end of August.

In parallel, the syndicate asked the government to exempt car rental companies from registration fees, annual mécanique fees, and the LBP100,000 annual license fee imposed on each car in their fleets. It also asked the government to track down and close illegal rental companies operating in Lebanon. Also, the syndicate urged the government to initiate a plan to stimulate the car rental sector, and to provide soft loans at low interest rates to support businesses in the sector.

[annie23]

Tourism
Good news: Lebanon is one of the best food destinations in the world


BEIRUT, by Louise Wernvik | iloubnan.info - March 14, 2013, 08h52 Lebanon is now rated as one of the ten tastiest countries in the world by Lonely Planet. Somewhat comforting (or surprising), after the massive food scandal that hit the country last year, with tons of rotten food being cooked and served by restaurants of all standards. This ranking is also a good news for Lebanon as it comes at a difficult time for the country of Cedar, which is facing issues with tourism due to the violence in neighboring Syria.

One of the world´s smallest countries is running up along the most established food destinations around the globe. Lebanese cooks have offered the world a taste unlike the creamy pasta dishes, spicy stews and raw sushi. Hummus, tabbouleh, fresh fish and copious amounts of garlic and olive oil have brought together a cultivated taste of the Middle East, and left tourists asking for another serving.
“Lebanon is a real and a unique case of diversity in the world just as its people´s origin, religion, the geography, the climate, the agriculture ... and the cuisine,” said Kamal Mouzawak, who owns an orient themed restaurant in Beirut, Tawlet, and created Souk el-Tayeb, the first farmers' and organic market in the Lebanese capital, a few years ago.

Travel publisher Lonely Planet is known to rate cities, hotels, restaurants, clubs and tourist attractions around the globe. When trying to find out which countries serve the yummiest food, Lonely Planet asked their fans on social networks where they have travelled and which places they enjoyed the most. More than 3000 people responded and Lebanon came in on eight place on the world´s top ten food destinations.

Lebanon is the only Arab country on the list and also the tiniest one of the top ten. Italy, which was voted number one, has a long history of tourists coming from near and far to try the al dente pasta, authentic pizzas and savory cheeses. Just like Thailand, France and Japan these countries are obvious destinations when it comes to travelling for food. So how come such a small country like Lebanon managed to tantalize the taste buds of an international crowd?

Em Sherif, owner of three restaurants in Beirut, was not surprised to find her home country on the culinary list. Lebanon has a unique food culture, combining the Arabic cooking tradition with the French influences. As oppose to many other Middle Eastern countries, Lebanon has enjoyed a high flow of tourism during the years and also a history of foreign occupation.
“Everybody loves Lebanese food. We have learned from other cultures and made it our own. It´s healthy, tasty and has a lot of variety,” Em Sherif said.

Mouzawak pointed to the geographical location, called Levant, which means Eastern Mediterranean, saying that it is only logical for their food to hit a coalition of influences. Many different factors, reigning from geography, history to cultural clashes have left its mark on the domestic cooking. “Lebanese food is very Mediterranean, mixed with notes of Arabic tastes and spices,” he said.

Although the Lebanese flavors may be highly praised by food lovers, it has also been highly criticized for its lack of health standards. Last year Lebanon experienced a massive food scandal. An enormous amounts of restaurants and food companies got caught using expired products. It was a big slam for the business of wining and dining and back then one might have found it hard to imagine that the very same food would end up on the list of the world´s best culinary experiences. But Em Sherif didn´t take the contradiction very seriously, saying that the scandal didn´t scare anybody away.

“This could happen anywhere in the world. It´s not just Lebanon that has these incidents,” she said.
So maybe the expired food scandal didn´t scare the tourists away. But the dropping bombs in neighboring Syria sure did. Official warnings are regularly issued by foreign embassies and travel agencies to any tourist wishing to travel to Lebanon. This has left a decrease in the influx of globetrotters. Unfortunately, the good food couldn´t outmatch the regional crisis.

Anyway, the tourists who visited Lebanon have made sure to spread the news of their good experiences. For giving Lebanese grub a reserved spot on the global food map, Em Sherif gives all credit to the younger generation. Within her own businesses she has noticed a difference in clientele according to cuisine. When she opened up an Indian restaurant a few years ago, mostly younger people came to try the exotic and spicy food. Also, she said, young people tend to network and socially interact online to share their experiences, rate restaurants and post their opinions. “The world has changed. Young people like to travel a lot and they use the internet. They dare to try new food and experience new things,” Em Sherif said.

Even though the regional crisis is holding back the tourists, the ranking of Lebanon as a top culinary experience sends the message of a promising future.

“This is great news. I am so happy. Cuisine is the most authentic expression of a land and its people,” Mouzawak said.

[Parra 1]

That is great for lebanon.I just love Lebanese food.

[AmeriLEB]

Plan to boost tourism from Eastern Europe
Discounted tours focus on beaches, sightseeing, nightlife


The Ministry of Tourism (MoT) will be working closely with Russian and Ukrainian travel agencies to stimulate the inflow of tourists from these countries.

The Middle East Airlines (MEA) has already agreed to implement this strategy through increasing the number of daily flights from Moscow to Beirut. Khaled Aridi, Incoming Manager at Nakhal Travel, said: “The Eastern European markets are highly active and have great potential as tourists coming from these countries are often from the upper social class and have a relatively high purchasing power.” Aridi said: “They mainly stay in four and five stars hotels, and spend in high-end stores.”

Incoming trips from Russia and Ukraine will increase as long as the offers are attractive and the situation is stable, Aridi said. Tourists from Ukraine and Russia seek mostly beach holidays and nightlife, according to Aridi: “This is why packages targeting these tourists must include beach breaks and nightlife, along with visits to natural reserves such as Jeita.”

Discounted packages (accommodation in a four-star hotel for a week) start at $400. Visas are given upon arrival.

However, the number of tourists from these countries is still minimal, and does not exceed five percent of the overall tourists number. “Egypt, Dubai, Turkey, and Israel are severe competitors when it comes to Eastern European tourists,” Aridi said.

In line with this strategy, several tourist agencies have been working on marketing local tourism through regional agencies. “We have started working closely with Turkish tourism agencies to include Beirut in their tours as a must-visit city,” Aridi said. The regional circumstances did not help tourism, especially when it comes to the persisting turmoil in Syria.
Reported by Rana Freifer