The Ministry of Tourism (MoT) has announced a five year national strategy to boost rural tourism. The work plan is comprehensive and aims at promoting internal and expatriate tourism and will be launched officially by the end of this month, said Nada Sardouk, Director General at the Ministry of Tourism. The program is designed so that all the villages of the country can benefit from the initiative.

“We have already launched works in this direction through the ‘Live Love Lebanon’ campaign that we announced two months ago,” said Sardouk. The new strategy will implement the first initiative. “This plan concerns not only the Ministry but all the Ministries and the organizations of the civil society.”

The Minister of Tourism Michel Pharaon and US Ambassador David Hale  have recently launched the ‘Travel Lebanon’ project to promote domestic tourism.

It is a joint initiative between the US Agency for International Development (USAID), in collaboration with Hospitality Services, the company that organizes the Horeca Exhibitions. This project is part of the five-year $41.7 million Lebanon Industry Value Chain Development (LIVCD) project sponsored by the USAID.

The program aims at improving local economic stability and providing income-generating opportunities for small business while creating jobs for the rural population.