Lebanon’s outspoken Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud tells it like it is and how it should be in the country’s tourism industry as he sits down with Executive for this exclusive interview.
- How much money is tourism expected to generate this summer?
Tourism will contribute $8 billion in 2010. It [generated] $7.2 billion in 2009.It is a fact that the kind of tourist coming to Lebanon is a high-spender. We are not geared and equipped to receive what I refer to as ‘fish and chips’ tourism. This country is not suitable for a $500 per week tourist.
The average stay is about nine days and the average [amount] spent is about $3,500. We get our numbers from Global Refund, the hotels and institutes. The numbers have been audited by the World Bank.
- You say that the Ministry of Tourism needs a bigger budget to attract more visitors from specific countries such as Spain, Germany and Russia. How would you spend the extra cash?
Promoting Lebanon is not just about TV advertisements. We have got to be present at each and every tourism exhibition, and not as the ‘poor relative,’ in comparison to our neighbors. I want to be in Madrid, Berlin, Moscow, London: in each tourism exhibition in the world, and want the Lebanese stand to be a decent stand.
Only last week we were in the New York Times, The Times of London, and the American Express travel magazine. In the last 6 months, Lebanon was probably mentioned in every decent publication in the world. It is now the destination for the connoisseur. At this moment in England, Germany, Spain, and certainly the Arab world, Lebanon is the destination. It is very difficult to get bored in this country, as my daughter who lives in London told me this morning.
- How do you plan to spread out tourism so that it’s not concentrated in the summer?
Religious tourism is very important. There is no other country in the world that has, within a radius of five kilometers, four Catholic saints. Most of these saints are 19th and 20th century saints, which is unique to Lebanon. The Vatican is only busy declaring saints from Lebanon!
We have Sunni sites and Shia sites. This is the wealth of this country. And it is the only country where you can do a new sport, which I call “skwimming;” it’s a combination of skiing and swimming [laughs].
We have one of the most sophisticated cuisines in the world. You’ve got the Lebanese people: the most cosmopolitan people on this earth. Even if you don’t speak a word of Arabic you can feel at home. We can think European — we are one of the few countries breeding international citizens.
- Can the new Miss USA, Rima Fakih, help increase tourism?
Absolutely. I’m working very hard to have her come here in September and get a lot of coverage for this. I expect this and I understand that she is ready and willing. And of course we are very proud.
- Do you feel that your reforms regarding nightlife and entertainment are being implemented? Are restaurants posting their menus outside their doors?
The law is very clear and we are working hard to enforce it. Menus should be [visible outside of premises]. There should not be a minimum charge. If there is a show, they are allowed to charge an entrance fee but to force people to spend $5,000 on a table of 10 people and pushing them to consume more alcohol is illegal. This is a country based on competition and free economy… I want the market forces to lower prices.
Some of these nightclubs are illegal, especially the ones on rooftops. They don’t even have a building permit. And certainly the owners are the son of this and the daughter of that, and every time we have to force them to behave. The music should not be that loud. People know by now that I don’t accept wassayit [influence], the Lebanese way. We are trying to bring back law and order to tourism.
- You often complain about the inefficiency of the public sector. How much time do you spend sorting out bureaucratic issues that are unrelated to tourism?
At this point it takes 80 percent of my time. I have a unit of seven people and I pay their wages, [which costs] about $15,000 to $20,000 a month. This has made things a bit better.
To be totally honest with you, what takes me a week to finalize in my company, takes me months and months and months [in the ministry]. As an example, this ministry has the right to supervise [Casino du Liban] as much as the Ministry of Finance, by law. I wanted to experience this right. It’s been now five months, I write and no one answers.
I have to go to the Ministry of Finance and beg, which is not really my character. The Minister of Finance is a friend and I have a lot of respect for her. She is transparent and straightforward. But the people running her ministry are still doing so with the Ottoman spirit, with a bit of ‘Crème Chantilly’ on top [laughs]. To be totally honest with you, the productivity of the public sector, in my opinion, is less than 10 percent of what it should be.
- Are there any plans to build more casinos to attract gamblers from the Middle East and Europe? Can Lebanon realistically become a gambler’s destination?
Indeed, we need the law to pass through parliament to allow Casino du Liban to open branches, as they have a monopoly now. I am all for it — branches, Internet gambling and virtual gambling too. I am happy to open branches and not allow Lebanese to gamble [but rather foreign tourists]. You could have three or four casino branches in Lebanon, even if they are under the same management, but the idea is to let them compete with each other.
We have a lot of Lebanese in Las Vegas and in the gambling business all over the world. We really need to bring in the professionals… to turn Lebanon into the Las Vegas of the Middle East. As a Minister of Tourism, this is a must.
At the moment, the Casino du Liban turns over $240 million. The government gets about half of that. I am sure if they will allow me to do things the way it should be done, within three or four years, we will get a billion. I will be able to increase turnover by 20 to 30 percent per annum. We can offer the nightlife, the glamour, the nice cigars… now [the gamblers] go to gamble [in Northern Cyprus] and there is no glamour.
- Can you update us about the public-private council on tourism that you are working to create?
Still waiting. Some people in government are not convinced. We are the only touristic destination in the world without a promotion council. We had a promotional board in 1960s and I’m trying to come up with a new one for the 21st century. But I am tired of begging as if I’m begging for personal favors… if they don’t want it, so be it.
I want to bring in the spirit of the private sector but the resistance of allowing the private sector into this ministry and any other ministry is beyond me. To start with, imagine that even the first class public servants are probably earning three to four million [Lebanese] lira per annum. If we have a promotional board, we need to pay the head — if I want to attract true talent — at least $100,000 per annum. Imagine [for the public servants] someone coming and interfering and earning three times what they earn. This makes them defensive… and makes my life difficult and doesn’t allow me to have a promotional board.
- Do you think potential investors get scared off when they see large developments or hotel projects taking much longer than scheduled? The Beirut Hilton, for example, has been ready to open since 2007 but hasn’t because of legal issues.
This can happen in any country in the world… Let’s be realistic. If we compare the time it takes to build a 300-room hotel in this country in comparison to Europe, we are taking half the time. We now have more than 1,100 five-star rooms being built, some will be ready in the next few months and some will take until the end of 2011. We have more than $4 billion invested now in tourism.
