The President of the "Tourism Unions" and the "National Council for Tourism," Pierre Ashkar, announced that "the expected booking rates in hotels in Lebanon before the 'Al-Aqsa Flood' operation and the events that followed in southern Lebanon were between 30% and 40%, while they are now between 0% and 10%." He revealed that "even the hotels in the capital, Beirut, are facing extremely difficult conditions, with a considerable number of hotels completely vacant and devoid of guests."
In a statement, Ashkar said, "The tourism sector has lost the Christmas and New Year season, as hotel bookings and flight tickets have been canceled." He pointed out that "significant losses will incur in the tourism sector due to the ongoing situation, and it is too early to estimate them before knowing the course of events."
He continued, "There are establishments that have closed, especially in remote areas and in the mountains," stating that "naturally, these establishments will turn into seasonal ones, as they cannot bear the cost of energy and securing water in light of the absence of relatively acceptable occupancy rates."
He emphasized that the biggest problem is "that the end of the war in Gaza does not mean that we will immediately resume the tourism season in Lebanon, as the restart of the season will take two or three months. Businessmen, conferences, and exhibitions need time to return to the country, and importantly, Lebanon's return to the Western tourism map will take a long time." He considered that "if the events in Gaza stop, the tourism season in Lebanon will not see any revival before Spring 2024."
Ashkar stressed that "there is no doubt that there have been significant losses, but no one can provide accurate figures on them at this time."
