The fragments of war inflict great losses on Lebanese tourism
The economic repercussions of the ongoing skirmishes between Hezbollah and the Israeli occupation on the southern Lebanese border with occupied Palestine continue, and there is a fear that the scope of clashes will expand into Lebanon.
The head of the Federation of Tourist Syndicates and the head of the National Tourism Council in Lebanon, Pierre Achcar, announced that “the rates of reservations that were expected in Lebanon’s hotels before the Al-Aqsa Flood operation and the accompanying events in southern Lebanon were between 30 and 40%, while today they are between zero.” And 10%.
Al-Ashqar revealed in a statement today, Monday, that “the situation of hotels in the capital, Beirut, has become very difficult, as there are a significant number of hotels vacant and completely empty of guests.”
He also pointed out that “the tourism sector lost the Christmas and New Year season, after hotel reservations were cancelled, as well as airline tickets,” indicating “huge losses that the tourism sector will incur as a result of what is happening, and it is too early to estimate them before knowing the direction of events.”
He warned that “there are institutions that have closed, especially in remote areas and in the mountains,” noting that “naturally, these institutions will turn into seasonal institutions because they are unable to bear the cost of energy and water in the absence of relatively acceptable occupancy rates.”
He also stressed that “the biggest problem is that the end of the war in Gaza does not mean that we will immediately resume the start of the tourist season in Lebanon, as the return of the season needs two or three months. Businessmen, conferences and exhibitions need time to return to the country, and the most important thing is that Lebanon’s return “It will take a long time to get to the map of Western tourism.”
He considered that “if the events in Gaza stop, the tourist season in Lebanon will not witness any start before the spring of 2024,” noting that “there is no doubt that there have been major losses, but no one can give accurate numbers about them at the present time.” .
In the same context, the Lebanese Tobacco and Tobacco Inventory Department (Regie) announced in a statement that “in line with its national role, it has established crop receiving centers in villages adjacent to southern towns in which a large number of tobacco farmers have left because they were exposed to constant bombing and were unable to remove their crops.”
She indicated that she is “communicating with Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and Army Intelligence to help remove crops from villages whose farmers cannot enter, by accompanying the international emergency forces UNIFIL,” hoping that “this will be possible as soon as possible.”
It also announced that, to date, it has received half of the quantities of the towns most vulnerable to bombing.
For his part, the head of the Lebanese-Kuwaiti Business Council, Asaad Saqal, expressed in a statement his fear of “the continued dramatic decline in economic conditions in Lebanon and the almost complete stagnation affecting many economic sectors as a result of the escalation of events in the south and the ongoing war in Gaza.”
He considered that “continuing things as they are will have disastrous repercussions on the economic and social levels, especially since all economic indicators show a significant contraction in business, which portends a comprehensive economic collapse.”
Saqqal stressed that “Lebanon, exhausted at various levels after 4 years of financial and economic crisis, cannot bear the burdens of entering the war. Therefore, while we condemn and denounce the barbaric and brutal Israeli aggression against Gaza and its people, it is the duty of all officials to work to spare Lebanon from war before the disaster strikes.” .
In a related context, the Minister of Tourism in the caretaker government, Walid Nassar, said today, Monday: “We are going through an unprecedented crisis in relation to the events taking place in Gaza, and there will be a cabinet meeting this week in which we will discuss several topics, the most important of which are the decisions we took in Saudi Arabia, which “Related to Lebanon’s participation in development projects taking place in the Kingdom, and Lebanon will have an important role in them in the future.”
After his meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Nassar said that he “put Mikati in the context of his Gulf tour, which included Qatar and the Emirates, and his participation in the Future Investment Initiative, which was held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
He added: “People may think that we are in one place and the situation in Lebanon is in another place, but despite everything, all ministers must move and every minister must move in his ministry and search for opportunities and positive and sustainable matters for Lebanon and the Lebanese, especially in the sisterly Arab countries.”
2023-10-30 17:12:04
#fragments #war #inflict #great #losses #Lebanese #tourism
