Have a little faith

Michel Pharaon, a veteran of Lebanese politics, first served as minister of state in 2000. The March 14 politician may not have been hoping for the tourism portfolio, but since his appointment in February he has shown enthusiasm for boosting the sector. Executive sat with him to discuss expectations for the summer, tax breaks and the Gulf travel ban.   What brought you to accept this job in the current climate? I was told that at one point maybe I would be minister of economy which is more my area [but] the prime minister thought I could do the job in tourism. So I said, “Why not?” because tourism is serious, but it is serious to be fun.   How bad is the situation for Lebanese tourism right now? When I took office in mid-February things looked very difficult, with a big crisis in tourism. It was not that it