Retail and the economic crisis

After the hotels and restaurants, it is the retail industry that is feeling the effects of the current economic strain,” says Nicholas Chammas, head of the Lebanese Traders Association. The retail industry in Lebanon depends heavily on Arab tourists and has suffered the effect of their decreased numbers this summer. “During the good summers, we used to have an average of five Arabs daily entering our shop. This year we are lucky if we see five a month,” says a salesperson in Nine West’s Verdun branch. Walking through downtown Beirut, one quickly notices the unusual quietness relative to previous summers, and though there are a few shoppers strolling around, it appears no one is buying. Numbers obtained from the tax free shopping services company Global Blue show there was an overall decrease in visitor refunds between the first quarter of 2012 and the second. Syria was one of the few