Despite Global Recession, Lebanese Tourism at All Time High
BY: Ameera David/Contributing Writer
It’s known as the “Paris of the Middle East” and is often boasted as the only place where you can lay on the beach and ski down a mountaintop in the same day.
This geographical treasure is none other than Lebanon—a home away from home for millions of Lebanese natives, and in recent years, an alluring destination spot for travelers from all over the world.
In the last ten years, Lebanon has developed into a beacon of tourism, with the decade’s culminating years demonstrating an economic growth never before seen.
Recently released reports state that in 2009, the number of tourists traveling to Lebanon rose by 39 percent, which is clocked as one of the highest rates of industry expansion in the world. Not to mention that the year marked a nine percent economic growth and hosted the largest number of tourists in its history.
Despite an ugly global recession and a waning number of international travelers, Lebanon has remarkably maintained its stability amidst a downpour of crumbling economies.
Now under the global microscope, the country’s development is being examined by leading economists, historians, and world institutions.
Yet, what is complex to observers appears very simple to one of Detroit’s most sizeable immigrant communities. Metro-Detroit is, in fact, home to over 300,000 Arab Americans—almost half of whom trace their roots to Lebanon.
Several of Detroit’s Lebanese Americans say they aren’t surprised Lebanon has been able to acquire such unprecedented recognition.
“Lebanon has attracted such a great number of tourists in recent years because it truly is a unique place. It fulfills both the cultural aspect of traveling and all of the highlights of a vacation,” says University of Michigan-Ann Arbor student, Ghida Dagher.
Wasim Mahfouz, Executive Director of the Lebanese American Heritage Club, echoes such sentiments, “It has a natural beauty, represented by a moderate climate and extraordinary sceneries.”
“It’s the beach, the lakes, the mountains, and the eternal cedars,” says Mahfouz.
It is such beauty, most likely, that explains Beirut, Lebanon holding the top destination spot on the New York Times’ popular ranking—“The 44 Places to go in 2009”–- released last January.
And indeed, in 2009, the country saw all such success.
Yet, it was just three years prior that Lebanon was caught amidst a two month war with Israel— with the conflict causing over 800 casualties, a devastated civil infrastructure, and the depression of Lebanon’s most lucrative sector, tourism.
While war undoubtedly deterred many non-Lebanese travelers from visiting the country in 2006 and 2007, VP of the Lebanese American Heritage Club, Suehaila Amen, says the conflict has seldom dissuaded Lebanese expatriates seeking to visit their homeland.
“The global community does not understand the Lebanese Diaspora’s love of their ancestral land that, no matter how tumultuous the political climate may be, they continue to flock to the country, annually,” says Amen.
“War or no war, I would love to be there each summer,” she adds.
Medical school graduate, Nancy Daoud, shares a similar understanding of such patriotism. “The Lebanese people will refuse to let any war destroy their ability to prosper,” she says.
It is this type of dedication to Lebanon that seemingly explains how a country, deeply ravaged by war and turmoil, has found the resilience to bounce back, and go beyond.
While an assessment of the country’s first quarter for the year has yet to be released, the Lebanese Tourism Ministry reports that already, January of 2010 has seen a 37 percent increase in the number of tourists when compared to January of 2009.
Encouraged by the overwhelming influx of visitors to the country, Lebanese Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud has begun to see great potential in the country’s ability to stay at the forefront of the revolutionizing tourism industry.
Just this month, he announced that the ministry is in the process of creating the “Promoting Lebanon Board,” a commission which will make its priority finding ways to improve Lebanon’s image abroad.
With a revamped agenda and a continuous building of infrastructure, Lebanon is on track to break its 2009 tourism record by the summer of 2010.
Already, the Consulate General of Lebanon in Detroit is witnessing such growth. “Right now, all of the embassies are overwhelmed with inquiries over visas and passport renewals— even more than last year,” says Acting Consul General, Bachir Tawk.
“It looks to be a prominent year for the country” he adds.
For thousands of Lebanon bound travelers this summer, anticipation is rapidly building as they wait to experience a country where the East meets the West—a place where warm Lebanese hospitality meets bountiful natural beauty and of course, the night-life of all night-lifes.