Occupied hotel nights
reached 2.6 million last year

Lebanese tourists topped the list of guests

The total number of occupied hotel nights reached 2.6 million last year, according to a study published by the Ministry of Tourism (MoT).

The numbers are based on a sample of 200 hotels spread across the country.

The number of visitors stayed in hotels reached 800,000, out of a total of two million visitors last year. The average tourist’s stay was 3.2 days, according to the MoT.

“We registered up to ten percent growth in revenues last year compared to the preceding year,” said Pierre Achkar, Chairman of the Association Tourism Syndicates.

Lebanese visitors topped the list (95,000) of those staying in hotels, with an average stay 3.5 nights per person. They were followed by Iraqis (77,000), with an average of 4.3 nights, Syrians (70,000) with an average of 4.2 nights per person, and French (55,000) with an average of 3.2 nights.

Saudis topped the list of Gulf tourists (31,000), with an average stay of 3.1 nights per person.

Achkar said that there are expectations for growth in 2019. The MoT has registered a seven percent growth in the number of tourists in the first seven months of the year.