100% Eid hotel reservations mainly from Iraq Jordan and Syria

An Nahar newspaper highlighted in its issue of today that the tourism industry would have restored the golden years of 2008, 2009 and 20010 and the situation would have been much better had the rate of Iraqi, Jordanian and Syrian arrivals been reinforced with a more reassuring percentage of GCC visitors. For more on the subject, An Nahar interviewed the director general of the ministry of tourism, Nada Sardouk, who confirmed that the Eid holidays set off a promising start for the coming seasons. The 100% hotels occupancy rates and comparable Airbnb, furnished apartments reservations, as well as bookings at guesthouses currently totaling 100 hostels, are all indicators of a promising comeback, Sardouk said. The enhanced influx of Lebanese expats in particular has widely reflected on internal tourism which improved by 40% compared to the past two years, she maintained. Such favorable indicators along with the extraordinary traffic at Beirut International Airport that could be in fact repeated, An Nahar wrote, required Sardouk to call for a corresponding development of airport services to accommodate a larger number of travelers and aircraft, especially" if we truly want to promote international tourism and expatriate movement,” as she put it. And noting the exceptional rate of Iraqi, Jordanian and Egyptian arrivals as compared to other nationalities, with a limited number of GCC nationals, Sardouk hoped the latter will increase in numbers and extend their stay from presently one week to 20 days like in the old times. (An Nahar, September 5, 2017)

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