No recovery in tourism

First quarter arrivals down by eight percent from last year

The total number of arrivals to Lebanon in the first three months of the year came to 313,850, down by eight percent from the same period last year, and down by 20 percent from 2010.

According to figures released by the Ministry of Tourism, the number of Arab visitors was 135,500 in the first quarter, up from 113,900 visitors in the first quarter of 2011. Visitors from Europe totaled 87,700 in the first three months, down from 89,000 visitors for the same period last year. Visitors from the Americas increased slightly to 35,400 in the first quarter, up from 32,800 in the same period last year. Asian visitors were down by more than half to just 33,700 in the first quarter of the year from 85,800 visitors for the same period last year.

This year, the number of visitors in January was down by 2.15 percent from the same month last year to just 95,800 visitors. The number of visitors in February was down by eight percent from last year to just 97,560. Visitors in March were fewer by 11 percent than they were in March 2011, reaching 120,470 visitors in total.

Tourist activity saw a sharp slowdown throughout 2011. The total number of tourists last year stood at 1.65 million, down by 24 percent from 2010, a year that saw the number of tourists increase by 17 percent from 2009.

Reported by Hanadi Chami