Past security incidents effected Lebanon tourism

Lebanese minister of tourism Joseph Sarkis expected a decrease in the number of tourists coming to the country this year by 20% in comparison to last year.

He added that the series of explosions and assassinations that took place in Lebanon this year scared some tourists, this is at a time when they started to rediscover the country which was a battle of war previously.

Sarkis said that the killing of the former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri in February in Beirut pushed the country to the worst crisis it faced since the civil war which took place between 1975- 1990.

He explained that the umber of tourists will be one million. He warned against security problems as this would affect tourism trade in the country. Tourism is a major industry for the country.

The number of tourists who arrived in Lebanon since the beginning of the year until the end of June reached 422,401 against 506,367 for the same period of 2004, which is about 20 % decrease. However, the number of Arab and foreign tourists who arrived in Lebanon since July reached 120,955 compared to 133,678 in the same month in 2004, which is only a 10% decrease.

Beirut started in recent years to restore back its attraction and to got rid off its distorted image of a city inflicted by the civil war which converted its quarters to squares of fighting and its tower hotels to resorts for snipers.

Worthy mentioning that the series of attacks which hit Lebanon raised fears among Lebanese and the tourists alike, though the number of victims was extremely limited.