Summer still to shine

  In 2010, the travel and tourism sector represented 22 percent of Lebanon’s gross domestic product, according to tourism minister Fadi Abboud, with the country witnessing an increase in tourist arrivals of approximately 17.2 percent on the previous year. While 2011 began with high hopes for tourism, regional unrest and internal turmoil has quickly unraveled that spirit of optimism and confidence. As one Arab regime after another came tumbling down or brutally clung to power, and as the Lebanese government collapsed and pushed the nation yet again into a period of uncertainty, bleak predictions for the tourism sector began to circulate. In January 2011 the first hit came when STR Global announced that hotel occupancy rates in Beirut had hit 41.6 percent, a 20.9 percent drop on 2010 rates. Drops in tourist arrivals and airport traffic further fueled fears, along with the kidnapping of seven Estonians in an isolated incident