Summer tourism in Lebanon prosperous because of foreign donors

Summer festivals are flourishing across Lebanon with the efforts of the local community and thanks to foreign funding despite a relative slackness on the part of the government, as reported by L’Orient Le Jour last Saturday. The newspaper shed light on municipal efforts to generate additional resources for their limited budgets and to seek foreign funding to similar undertakings. On the subject, Yahya Fattal, head of the tourism committee for Tripoli, disclosed that in the absence of a clear and systematic official plan, his municipality is looking for the support of the international community and local politicians. Similarly, Ehden municipality member, Shafik Ghazali, referred to a joint campaign with the ministry of tourism to attract foreign tourists, pointing to a long list of projects planned for the city. Regarding funding issues, Ghazali said the municipality is still on the lookout for resources. L’Orient Le Jour brought out a good example of a fruitful team effort with a foreign agency in the domain of tourism. In Hadath al Jibbeh, Kadisha, the newspaper wrote, USAID supported the renovation of a local hotel and the construction of 10 long walking trails all over the village, which contributed to increasing the number of tourists by 20% in 2015.

On the festivals front, yesterday saw the opening of the Maghdoosheh touristic festivities for 2016 organized by the Green Rabyeh Club in collaboration with the town’s municipality and the sponsorship of the ministry of culture. The festival is expected to continue till September 7 and will include various cultural, traditional, sports, recreational and musical activities to be held at the town’s public square. In parallel, Ehmej inaugurated its sixth touristic festivities in the presence of tourism minister Michel Pharaon and public figures. (An Nahar, Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, L’Orient Le Jour, August 22, 2016)