On May 31, when beach clubs and resorts were given the green light to open for the season, following the government mandated COVID-19 lockdown measures, operators of such properties were faced with a dreary grey seascape. Not only did they need to learn and invest in new sanitization protocols in an attempt to severely reduce…
Impact of COVID-19 and economic crises on Lebanon’s retailers
Storefront banners and text messages announcing extended clearance sales or “70 percent off” all merchandise have been part of Lebanon’s retail landscape since 2012. Executive has been reporting on the dwindling purchasing power among Lebanese and the overall decrease in tourists from wealthy GCC countries as the reasons behind the gradual decline of the retail…
Q&A with the Bus Map Project’s Chadi Faraj, on the impacts of coronavirus measures on Lebanese public transport
Among the many aspects of our daily lives that were perceived in a new light following the four months since Lebanon introduced coronavirus-related safety and lockdown measures was the way we move from one place to another. Not allowed to use their cars on Sundays and only on alternative weekdays from April 5 to June…
New Damour beach club, Lost at Sea, opens despite Lebanon’s economic crisis
All that can be seen in the drive down the narrow road in Damour, south of the airport, that leads to the country’s newest beach club, Lost at Sea, is the glittering Mediterranean. This serene seaview provides a soothing backdrop to the white sunbeds, the turquoise pool, the natural wood bar, and the restaurant seating…
From the Villages: Ziad Hourani discusses solidarity through e-commerce
Lebanon’s ongoing economic crisis—an indicator of which is the increased cost of living at a time when many are unemployed or have seen their salaries lose a chunk of their value due to the increase in the foreign exchange rate and price inflation—has highlighted Lebanon’s fragility when it comes to food sufficiency, defined by the…
Lebanon’s experience with distance learning
As students across the world got ready for their first day back at school last fall, they could not have known that they would be spending almost all of the last trimester at home, communicating virtually with their teachers and deprived of the usually enjoyable social elements of campus life such as recess or after-school…
The impact of Lebanon’s economic woes on schools and parents
Lebanon’s fee paying private schools—which cater to 52.6 percent of the student body in Lebanon or 564,446 students out of 1,073,141 as per the 2018-2019 statistical bulletin compiled by the Center for Educational Research and Development—are in grave danger of falling victim to the ongoing economic crisis plaguing the country. As Executive reported back in…
F&B sector operating in constantly shifting and worsening conditions
It is a sad time for the hospitality sector in Lebanon, as we hear of the closures this May of Food and Beverage (F&B) outlets such as Hamra’s Dar Bistro café and bookshop, Minet el-Hosn’s upscale fine-dining venue Balthus, which had been in operation for 20 years, and Tawlet Hamra, which had operated for just…
Q&A with Kamal Mouzwak on the impact of COVID-19 on Tawlet and Souk El Tayeb
After being closed down starting March 11 for almost eight weeks, due to measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lebanon’s restaurants were allowed to re-open on May 4 as part of a phased easing of the lockdown. To learn more about considerations F&B operators were taking into account before reopening, Executive chatted beforehand…
Growing trend of individual or community planting in Lebanon
As prices of both imported and locally produced food items continue to increase and Lebanon’s food security is potentially threatened (see articles on agro-industry and food security), the old Lebanese proverb “fellah mekfi, sultan mikhfi”—which roughly translates to “a satisfied farmer is really a sultan”—rings true. Knowing how and being able to grow one’s own…