Raouche Rock in Beirut The number of tourists to Lebanon dropped by 10% in the first eight months of 2013 compared to the same period last year, as reported by The Daily Star. European visitors topped the list ahead of Arabs for the first time in years . The number of tourists totalled 891,079 compared to 986,649 in 2012, with Europeans accounting for 35% of total visitors, followed by Arabs at 30.6%. The number of Arab tourists declined by 18.8% year-on-year as a result of travel warnings issued by several Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait have all urged their citizens to leave Lebanon in the wake of a series of security incidents that broke out in the country over the past year and have advised them against travelling to Beirut. The number of tourists from the UAE declined by 70.3%, followed by Saudi Arabia with a 49.4% decrease, Kuwait at 34.3% and Jordan at 14.3%.
An association of tourism industry officials called last month on Lebanon’s national carrier Middle East Airlines to reduce fares in a bid to encourage additional tourists from Iraq and Jordan. Visitors from Iraq accounted for 10.3% of the total tourist arrivals to Lebanon in the first eight months of this year, followed by France with 9.7%, the United States with 8.4% and Jordan with 6.2%.
Lebanon’s tourism sector contributed more than US$8 billion in 2009 and 2010 to Lebanon’s GDP. According to the Tourism Association, this figure is expected to drop to less than US$4 billion this year if security conditions continue to decline.
Source: Travel Daily