Rural tourism in Lebanon buoyant this summer triggering a call for the extension of the ‎season

The minister of tourism Michel Pharaon launched yesterday the Qartaba Tourism Festivals in the ‎presence of a large audience. The minister in his address said that while many towns across the ‎country have planned similar activities for next month, he urged his education counterpart Elias ‎Bu Saab to delay the opening of the academic year from the 15th to the 18th of September in ‎order to support the tourism. Pharaon also pointed out that the occupancy rate in various ‎guesthouses during the period from May till October has reached 100%, hence reflecting a ‎growing demand on rural tourism.  In the same vein, and on the sidelines of the Qubeyat summer ‎festivities, the minister of culture, Raymond Oreiji visited last Saturday a market that showcased ‎the different made-in-Akar agricultural, food and artisan products. Touring the diverse stalls, ‎Oreiji stopped to contemplate the Aidamooni handmade rugs bazaar organized by the committee ‎for the revival of the domestic carpet industry. For his part, Aidamoon mayor Kamal Maksud ‎gave a brief presentation of the history of the industry, highlighting its physical and traditional ‎value. In the same vein, the municipality of Kawkaba arranged on Sunday and in cooperation ‎with Green Steps Lebanon, a sports and environmental activity on the model village implemented ‎and supported by USAID and CARITAS to promote the cultivation of cedar trees. On the ‎occasion, Kawkaba mayor, Elie Abu Ncoul, underlined the significance of similar undertakings in ‎spreading cultural awareness, pledging to keep the pace in order to bring the village natives back ‎to their roots. To be noted that the model Kawkaba tourist village is a pioneering hospitality ‎project which is surrounded by pine trees and includes 7 guesthouses, one of them designed to ‎cater for to people with special needs. (An Nahar, Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, August 8, 10, 11, ‎‎2016)‎