Before October 17, 2019, most 4- and 5-star hotels in Beirut reported annual average room occupancy rates of 75 to 80 percent before the first coronavirus case in Lebanon was reported on February 21, 2020. This occupancy rate had been the norm since 2009 and most hotels expected that in 2019, they would exceed that…
Executive Magazine’s September/October issue
Dear stakeholders in Lebanon’s return, dear friends with discerning minds, and all readers of Executive, We are proud to present you with the best-ever socioeconomic issue of Executive Magazine at this decisive moment for our country’s social and economic development. Our September – October 2020 issue is available to read online or for download and…
Lebanon’s beach club operators discuss summer 2020
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…
Executive Magazine’s July/August issue
It has been just over two weeks since the deadly Beirut Port explosion that killed at least 180, injured over 6,000, and left over a hundred thousand without homes. The impacts of this horrific event are still unfolding. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Lebanon’s most recent sit rep on…
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…
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…
Lebanon’s economic crisis weighs heavy on F&B outlets and hotels
In Lebanon’s service-oriented economy, the hospitality and tourism sector is largely considered a beacon of strength. Its direct contribution to GDP by end of 2018 was 6.5 percent (according to the World Travel and Tourism Council) and it employs 150,000 people, the biggest employer after the public sector, per the tourism syndicates of Lebanon (the…
Lebanon’s F&B operators face an economic crisis and low tourism
The once mighty food and beverage (F&B) sector is today falling under the weight of the current economic crisis—the dollar shortage, increased cost of living due to exchange rates, and lower purchasing power—and lack of tourists, with no respite in sight. Once optimistic F&B operators, who had always insisted that the sector was resilient enough…