Give Lebanon’s tourism industry a chance

After five years, my assignment has come to an end, and here I am reflecting on the country I fell deeply in love with. I was blessed to be entrusted with a luxury hotel opening under very difficult and challenging circumstances, and I have enjoyed my time at the helm of the InterContinental Phoenicia, La Grande Dame du Moyen Orient. Beirut was always known as the Paris of the Middle East, and it certainly has the potential to reclaim this title with its present attributes. I have experienced Lebanon as one of the most modern, stimulating, breathtaking yet nostalgic, disruptive places—the contradictory land of the cedars. Geopolitical challenges and negative perceptions abroad have made Lebanon’s future dependent on the region’s political playground. To return Lebanon to its rightful place as a tourist destination, the country has to be promoted in a purely positive light based on its strengths and unique