Tourism struggles to recapture vacationers

Ariss: Recovery needs political stability, security, and support of Gulf countries

Local and regional adversities have hit the tourism sector hard, with turnover dropping by 45 percent in the first four months of the year, said Paul Ariss, president of the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Night-Clubs, and Patisseries.

Incoming tourist numbers dropped by eight percent year-on-year in the first quarter. The number of visitors stood at around 314,000 at end-March.

The bleak picture was refuted by Minister of Tourism Fadi Abboud who was upbeat about prospects for the summer season. “Tourism during this summer will not be badly damaged,” he said, expecting 1.8 million visitors this year.

Abboud, along with a number of private enterprises, launched a campaign to counteract the effects of local unrest and regional turmoil. The representatives of Aishti, Bank Audi, City Mall, Phoenicia Hotel, MEA, and other tourist institutions, rallied round to restore confidence in the country’s stability.

According to Ariss, it is too late to recapture tourists for this summer: “Tourists who chose not to come to Lebanon have already booked somewhere else.”

Ariss expects the sector to “hopefully" generate around $4 billion, almost 40 percent below last year's sector earnings. But Abboud said that tourism revenues rose by 22 percent in the first four months of the year. He forecast revenues to be at around $7 billion, similar to last year.

Ariss said that restoring security and political stability is the biggest target for the tourism industry: “Politicians should work on alleviating tensions through adopting a calmer rhetoric.”

Four Gulf countries warned their citizens not to visit Lebanon after clashes erupted in Tripoli. The country's leaders are lobbying to get each of Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar to rescind the travel warnings. “It is pivotal to work towards lifting the travel warnings in order to regain the support of Gulf countries,” said Ariss.

“We still have a chance to recover tourist inflow after the month of Ramadan, so we have a month from mid-August to mid-September to recover some of the losses.”

Reported by Hanadi Chami