Abboud and Tony Mouawad, Executive Vice President of international, inspection and certification, group- Bureau Veritas in the Middle East, India, Russia and Africa, signed an agreement yesterday in Beirut that entitles the company to undertake a re-evaluation study for all tourism and hotel businesses in Lebanon, in five years, through the Mystery Shopping inspection program. 

Hotels, restaurants, cafes, and all hubs that provide services to tourists would all be under-study. A mystery shopper sent by the company would embark on visits to any tourism spot, at any time, acting as a normal client to evaluate the quality of services they provide, as compared to those applied in Europe, and other international and Arab countries. 

Earlier, the Ministry of Tourism used to rate tourism hubs in the country, with results of the evaluation studies, remaining unchangeed for years.

This new ranking of all our tourism hubs to be carried out by BerauVeritas would be based on international standards, said Abboud. “Many tourists rely on such rankings to choose their destinations,” the Minister added.

Mouawad said that study would inspect the degree of how much those institutions pertain to public safety in their services, in addition to studying the quality of their products. “This ranking is not just a certificate. It is much bigger than this,” said Mouawad. “This certification study is related to the society’s safety, and the public health,” he said.

Lebanon is expecting over two million tourists in 2010, Abboud has repeatedly said.

“This is a qualitative and vital step that we have agreed upon with all tourism syndicates in the country, after six months of negotiations,” said Abboud. “We want Lebanon to become a tourism center, through applying international standards that all tourists deserve to enjoy,” the Minister added.