Hotels bridge troubled financial waters

From the fifteen year long Civil War which began in 1975, to the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, to the sit-ins in downtown Beirut in 2007 and numerous other disruptions, it seems that Lebanon is always either in crisis or recovering from one. This roller coaster of stability has had a negative impact on tourism, with the number of tourist arrivals dropping almost every time Lebanon makes the news for a security incident, only to rise again as soon as the situation stabilizes. Khalil Arab, co-owner of Warwick Palm Beach Hotel in Minet el-Hosn, gives the example of how their low room occupancy rates shot up considerably the day after President Michel Sleiman got elected in 2008 and the sit-in in Riad el-Solh Square was dismantled. [pullquote]Many hotels have outstanding loans which hotel owners took out for the purpose of renovation or improvement to property[/pullquote] Survival yet