Tourism In Lebanon Begins To Show Its Limitations

(Financial Times)

The “Best season ever” turned out to be not so best-ever after all:

“We have mixed signals, strong in the first half and feeble in the second,” says Elie Namoor from travel agency Rida International. “The number of rooms booked is almost the same [as last year], but this in itself is somehow disappointing as there are more additional incoming flights from Europe and from Arab countries.”

Gee, I wonder why. I thought rich people loved to visit countries with constant talk of war and a bickering political class. But that’s not the entire story:

According to one hotel manager in Bhamdoun, a mountain resort, the main thing deterring visitors is the traffic. Lebanon’s roads are in critical need of development and are increasingly unable to cope with the summer influxes.

Ok, so war and bad infrastructure, anything else? But of course:

The costs of accommodation, food and transport in resort areas are high even for better-off visitors. The average Beirut hotel room rate has increased by nearly 16 per cent since last year, more than anywhere else in the region, says Byblos Bank.

Tourism in Lebanon, it appears, has peaked.