A state of tourism

It was a positive, not to mention mildly surprising sight late last month, when workers descended upon Beirut’s downtown pedestrian area and installed dividers to finally separate the outdoor seating areas of cafes and restaurants from the public space reserved for pedestrians and emergency vehicles. Positive because for the past four years, ever since the downtown started to take off as recreational and tourism attraction, each year had been worse than the previous in terms of the ruthless encroaching on vital public areas. Surprising, because some 15 months ago, top officials in the Beirut administration had stated emphatically that the barriers would be installed before the 2004 summer tourism season. But nothing happened. Instead of moving quickly towards implementing measures that were recognized as clear necessities, Maarad, the area most affected, became embroiled in the matter of the walkway overlooking the Roman ruins. Here it seemed that final construction works