Rural tourism strategy launched in Aley

The USAID-funded Lebanon Industry Value Chain Development Program (LIVCD) and the Lebanese Association for Training, Education and Development (Delta) launched last Saturday the rural tourism strategy in the Mount Lebanon area of Aley under the patronage of tourism minister Michel Pharaon and the presence of the agriculture minister Akram Shehayeb. Attended by a crowd of public figures, the event was held at the premises of the Association for Forests Development and Conversation (AFDC) in Ramleyeh, Aley. On the occasion, the CEO of the Aley Development Gathering, Rami Salman, expressed hope that eco-tourism will give new perspectives for development and contribute to the steadfastness of local communities through the motivation of the economic cycle and the provision of jobs for young people. And while AFDC president, Wissam Abu Ghanem, underlined the urgency of said strategy for the revival of the local Aley economy, Delta representative, Ihab Nassr, pledged to work closely with concerned municipalities and provide the required training support. For his part, minister Pharaon  made clear that the rural tourism project is expected to increase the eco-tourism share of the overall size of conventional tourism (normally 5-6%) to reach nearly 20%, and placed great importance to such undertaking. He called on his colleague ministers to make a tour of the country to feel the richness of existing natural resources and advise on approaches to turn them into useful touristic development projects. “We used to rely on Arab tourists who visited Aley in the past, now we have to be creative and develop new forms of tourism,” he said. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, June 8, 2016)