CommentEntrepreneurshipSpecial Report

McKinsey’s tourism vision for Lebanon

by Jad Abou Arrage & Socrates Ghadban
written by Jad Abou Arrage & Socrates Ghadban

Tourism is one of the most promising sectors as a driver of economic growth in Lebanon, and so was an essential part of McKinsey’s Lebanon Economic Vision (LEV). The management consultancy’s report—presented in the form of a 1274 slide-long powerpoint presentation—dedicated around 120 slides to the tourism sector. How was this vision developed, and does it constitute a comprehensive tourism strategy that takes into consideration the realities of Lebanon? Does this plan examine the ever-changing tourism and travel market with the emergence of new destinations and the shifts in travelers’ behaviors and preferences?

In the process of developing their tourism vision, McKinsey experts consulted with the tourism and culture ministries, a former tourism minister, the tourism committee of the Economic and Social Council, three main tourism syndicates (that represent conventional tourism services), and two persons in the nightlife business. We do not believe that the personal opinions of these stakeholders alone—to the exclusion of many other key actors representing different tourism types and market segments—were sufficient to build an integrated strategy for the sector. Moreover, the diagnostic upon which the vision was formulated did not draw a clear map of the sector dynamics from a value chain perspective. For example, the accommodation services considered by the study were limited to conventional hotels, and all other forms of accommodation were neglected. 

As a result of ignoring Lebanon-specifics, the tourism vision initiatives and recommendations were not comprehensive nor inclusive and showed a limited knowledge of the Lebanese legal context and framework. For example, McKinsey acknowledged the need to clean Lebanon’s public beaches in its recommendations, but listed their proposed “owner” for this task as the Ministry of Tourism, whereas this task necessitates the joint efforts of many public and private entities including the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, and concerned municipalities. Moreover, the initiatives’ prioritization seemed to fit with the interests of few stakeholders and serve the mass tourism concept with its leisure market segments, rather than promoting a sustainable tourism approach based on small scale adventure and experiential tourism forms that generate higher revenues and minimize the negative impacts of tourism on the natural and cultural resources. Based on our own research and research conducted abroad, it is clear that tourism development should incorporate different tourism types and create synergies and complementarities between them in order to respond to the diverse market demands for innovative and authentic experiences. 

From a marketing perspective, the LEV proposed to promote and brand Lebanon as the “up and coming Mediterranean Riviera” with three main types of tourism: leisure (including “City and Entertainment,” “Sun & Sea,” and “Culture,” as well as a “niche offering in ultra-luxury ecotourism”), business (with a focus on the MICE segment and the GCC), and medical. This market and branding vision bears many paradoxes, especially for two types of tourism. The ultra-luxury ecotourism concept does not match with the realities of Lebanon due to the small size of its nature reserves, their proximity to urban settlements, the fragility of natural ecosystems, and the absence of legislation for ecotourism in general. It is worth mentioning that none of the nature reserve managers or nature-based tour operators who have been working on this market were consulted.

As for the Sun & Sea segment of leisure tourism, it is one of the least competitive markets for Lebanon due to the low attractiveness of the coastline and the high levels of sea water pollution, in addition to the very low capacity to compete with neighboring destinations such as Turkey, Cyprus, and Egypt, resulting in a deteriorated value for money. Moreover, sun and sea tourism is not a trending market segment anymore according to many international studies and reports. 

Meanwhile, the 22 proposed priority initiatives did not promote a balanced socio-economic development model since they favored the center-periphery model, which increases disparities and gaps between urban and rural areas. The LEV mentions three tourism anchor destinations and urban/coastal hubs in Beirut, Byblos, and Sour, instead of developing regional tourism clusters and geographical destinations offering thematic experiences for travelers, with all what they need in terms of services, facilities, and activities.

In addition to that, as for most the economic sectors mentioned in the vision, the tourism priority initiatives are not presented with a clear time frame that identifies how long is needed for their implementation.

In terms of economic impact, the LEV estimated that the number of jobs in the tourism sector will increase from 89,000 in 2017 to 185,000 in 2025. However, there is no explanation of how these 96,000 jobs will be created in the space of six years, how they will be distributed on the different sub-sectors of the tourism industry, and which tourism businesses and services will absorb them. 

Thus, Lebanon’s tourism development strategy should be aligned with international market trends and should be flexible to cope with the fast changing environment. Moreover, it should be shaped according to Lebanon’s particularities, especially the unstable political scene and the frequent crises that should be faced by integrating the concept of resilience within the national tourism strategy. 

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CommentEntrepreneurshipSpecial Report

How can Lebanon compete in tourism?

by Samer Elhajjar
written by Samer Elhajjar

Dubai is ranked the fourth most-visited city in the world according to the Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index 2018. New attractions and experiences have contributed to Dubai’s success, bulwarked by a comprehensive marketing strategy. Campaigns promoting Dubai tourism showcase the city as a safe and exciting destination for travelers. Dubai’s marketing plan is primarily accomplished by the efforts of a large group of independent firms and agencies that work together to serve their independent interests. Those carrying out the marketing plan include both private-sector firms and public-sector agencies (e.g. the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing). The success of Dubai’s marketing should prove to Lebanon the need for a better public-private strategic and systematic coordination. In Lebanon, sadly, there has not been serious attention to the role of the private sector in investment decision-making and management of tourist spots in order to increase the prosperity of the tourism industry.

Lebanon has many natural, cultural, and social strengths that have enabled it to carry out its tourism activity. However, it should be noted that its strengths are not enough to carve its place in world tourism today. What Lebanon needs is a destination marketing plan that promotes the country as a must-visit tourist destination. McKinsey’s Lebanon Economic Vision (LEV) highlighted the tourism sector as one of the five sectors the company believed should be focused on in order to revamp the economy. While McKinsey’s recommendations include realistic strategies such as creating a “vibrant calendar” for events and issuing bulk visa for corporates, the plan still lacks in several areas. For example, while it outlines changes necessary for an improved aviation policy, these need fleshing out in order to constitute a fully comprehensive plan that could aid the tourism sector. Moreover, Tripoli—the city with the second-largest amount of Mamlouk architectural heritage in the world—is not mentioned in the tourism section of McKinsey’s LEV, raising serious questions as to whether certain cities have been given priority at the expense of others in McKinsey’s vision.

Another element that was missing from McKinsey’s tourism vision was clarity on how Lebanon can compete with neighboring mass tourism regions. To be able to position itself in a harsh competition context, Lebanon must put in place differentiation strategies for tourism promotion. These tactics will be based on several factors, such as the establishment of country brand, the diversification of tourism products, the diversification of markets, the development of ecotourism, and the reduction of airport taxes. In its plan, McKinsey put emphasis on traditional approaches to tourism promotion, such as boosting medical tourism and business (MICE) tourism. However, the competitiveness potential for medical and MICE tourism is highly limited given the head start of regional countries such as Turkey and the UAE.  

In order to assert Lebanon’s competitive edge over its neighbors, the government should first polish up its image. Lebanon still suffers from the lingering hangover of wars and political conflicts. The role of tourism diplomacy is critical in order to promote destination Lebanon; this means opening new offices of representation and tourism promotion in the various source markets with high tourist potential. Securing the services of a local tourism professional in each issuing market would be an important strategic act; their role would be to participate in the implementation of a marketing and communication strategy, as well as the necessary lobbying with the tour operators and sales networks. In addition, Lebanon has to target niche markets. Creative approaches from the government ought to promote Lebanon as a tourist destination for cultural, religious, and  gastronomic tourism, as well as leisure and recreational tourism. Another opportunity to diversify Lebanon’s tourism offerings would be to sign agreements and partnerships with international event planners as an essential part of promoting the country as the preferred Arab wedding destination. 

In 2018, Lebanon ranked 105 out of 137 countries on the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index. Lebanon’s unfavorable competitiveness rank can be partially attributed to the sector’s poor tourism infrastructure. With a view to promoting tourism, new activities should be launched in order to foster rapid development of the tourism infrastructure, in terms of both physical facilities, and the quality and diversity of tourism services. This should include restoration and protection of archeological sites such as the castle in Saida, natural sites like Qornet Sawda, urban infrastructure, and transportation.

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Freshwater tourismSpecial Report

The potential for year-long sustainable tourism around Lebanon’s rivers and lakes

by Nabila Rahhal
written by Nabila Rahhal

Following a particularly long winter that included snowfalls as late as mid-April, Lebanon has truly come alive this spring. The lush greenery dotted with colorful wildflowers, the swarm of bright butterflies, and the gushing rivers and serene lakes all make visitors to these areas pop out their phone cameras far too frequently in an attempt to capture their natural beauty.

Picturesque sites such as those described above—and the activities that could be done around them—are assets for Lebanon’s tourism, especially in spring when the majority of Lebanon’s freshwater bodies are at their peak appeal. It is rare to see a lake or river in Lebanon without a restaurant, café, or picnic site as its backdrop, unless they are part of a natural reserve. More recently, the banks of lakes and rivers have also been the sites of a variety of ecotourism activities such as hiking and cycling. However, there is a potential for sustainable year-long tourism at Lebanon’s lakes and rivers that has yet to be fully developed. 

Food for thought

According to Jad Abou Arrage, assistant professor at the faculty of tourism and hospitality management at the Lebanese University, whenever there is a freshwater body the first thing to develop is the infrastructure to access it—no matter how primitive that infrastructure might be—and the second is a touristic enterprise, usually in the form of a restaurant, to cater to visitors. Once one restaurant opens and is successful, others typically follow, creating a cluster of restaurants that can be found around many of the water bodies in Lebanon. Starting from the late 1920s,  Zahle’s Berdawni river restaurants were a popular visit point and were even the subject of a poem by Ahmad Shawki entitled “Ya Arrous el-Wadi” (the bride of the valley), in reference to the two hills between which the Berdawni flows. Today, each region of Lebanon has its preferred riverside cluster: the north has Nabeh Mar Sarkis in Ehden, the Shouf has Nabeh el-Safa’s waterfalls, the south has the waterfalls at Jezzine, and the Bekaa has Lake Qaraoun.

Regardless of their location, by and large these riverside restaurants have the same structure and business model. Executive’s field research found that the average capacity was 500, and that typically Lebanese mezze and mashaweh are offered on the menu, with some local variations. For example, restaurants around Hermel’s Assi river are known for their trout fish, while those around Ehden’s Mar Sarkis spring are known for their kibbeh. The average bill is $20 per person, although it can go as low as $12 or as high as $35 depending on the order. 

For most of the low altitude restaurants surveyed, the season starts before the Easter break or by the end of April; waterside restaurants at higher altitudes open in early June when temperatures stabilize. Those Executive spoke with described May and June as “field-trip season,” as during that period their clientele is mostly made up of school children having lunch while on a field trip, or larger groups who have rented buses privately or via tour operators to take day excursions across Lebanon. 

This is followed by the summer season when restaurant owners say business is at its best due to local Lebanese children being on vacation, Lebanese expats visiting, and the generally higher number of tourists. According to those interviewed, tourists from the Arab Gulf were a big percentage of their clientele until their numbers plummeted five years ago and only began increasing again this past summer. Only restaurants around the Hasbani and Wazani rivers in south Lebanon rely entirely on Lebanese since they lie behind the security line and as such, non-Lebanese would need to obtain a permit from defense ministry offices in Saida or Nabatiyeh  to access them, which many consider a hassle.

The season ends by mid-October, when most of these restaurants recede to their smaller winter venue—often an indoor section of the same restaurant—where they make just enough money to cover their expenses and maintain a market presence. “We reduce the number of staff by half in winter and only open on weekends since we get far less customers than we do in the summer—usually those who are from the area and are loyal to us,” says Saadeh Hamade, the manager of Anjar’s Al Jazira restaurant.

A summer meal with a view is one way to enjoy freshwater bodies, but instead of that being the only option, it could exist as part of a more developed tourism infrastructure that makes full use of these natural tourism assets.

To the rescue

Ecotourism is defined by the International Ecotourism Society as tourism directed toward natural environments intended to support conservation efforts and observe wildlife. It is a socially responsible form of tourism that supports local communities and environmental sustainability.  

Ali Awada, founder of kayaking and rafting company Sport Nature Club, believes that ecotourism came about because travelers had grown weary of the conventional mass tourism model of a bus “to main sites and a fast food restaurant on the way back.” He had noticed the emergence of the ecotourism trend in the 1990s, when he was living in France, and thought of bringing back an element of it to Lebanon. “To me, its role would be twofold: it would show people a different side of Lebanon—especially since we were coming out of the civil war—and it would also develop rural tourism in neglected areas such as Khiam, Hermel, and Akkar, where three main rivers are,” says Awada,  referencing the Litani, Assi, and Awali rivers respectively. Awada established his kayaking and rafting business in 1995, starting with the Assi river in Hermel, and says he takes an average of 500 adventurers per summer either rafting or kayaking there.  

Ecotourism is not new to Lebanon, but the past decade has seen a rapid increase in the number of ecotourism operators in the country.  “In 1997, there were only four [ecotourism operators], in 2010 there were 25, and today there are close to 90,” says Abou Arrage. “This is because domestic tourism has developed a lot over the past couple of years; many Lebanese cannot afford to travel abroad anymore, and so seize the opportunity to enjoy nature activities once a week on Sundays as the cost is much less.”

The increase in visits to Lebanon’s natural biospheres and protected areas also indicates a growing interest among those in Lebanon to enjoy the country’s natural beauty where it exists (see boxes for more on these sites). For example, Domaine Taanayel, famous for its lake, had around 12,000 visitors in 2010, when arcencial, a Lebanese non-profit organization focusing on development, first took over management. By 2018 that had increased over 15-fold to 183,000 visitors. Tony Saliba, head of ecotourism at arcenciel attributes this increase to the growing interest in ecotourism in Lebanon.

Through ecotourism, the potential for tourism around Lebanon’s fresh water bodies is diversified and expanded beyond just having lunch overlooking the water to something that is more sustainable for the industry and for the environment.  Mark Aoun, general manager of local ecotourism NGO Vamos Todos, explains that a wide variety of their activities take place over freshwater bodies. The most obvious example is hiking or trekking, which is popular near almost all freshwater bodies including along Nahr el-Jawz in Batroun, the Qadisha valley close to the cedars, and alongside Chouwen in the Jabal Moussa Reserve.

Rafting is most popular in Hermel’s Assi River, although Awada says he is trying to increase the popularity of the Litani river in the south. There is also caving across the Jezzine waterfalls and zip lining and climbing in Balou Balaa, close to Batroun.

Boat rides used to be common on Lake Qaraoun, but this season boats have been banned due to worries that they will be pulled by the overflow-drain pipe toward the end of the lake, and to prevent them from polluting the lake by dumping fuel, according to Sami Alawieh, director of Litani River Authority.

While tourism in Lebanon is concentrated in the summer, ecotourism around freshwater bodies opens up the possibility of spring tourism—a positive step toward year-long tourism—since these assets are at their maximum appeal in the cooler spring months. Some rivers, such as Nahr el-Dahab, which is part of the Jabal Moussa Reserve, dry up in the summer and so can only be enjoyed in spring. Rafting in Jounieh’s Nahr el-Kalb is a spring-only activity as well, according to Awada, since water levels are too low in the summer. For low altitude locations, spring is the ideal time for hiking before it gets too hot.

The money trail

Having a well-maintained and managed freshwater body in an area can revitalize the local economy through ecotourism. Abou Arrage says municipality heads who have recognized the value of their natural assets have capitalized on them by introducing hiking trails and organizing events around these freshwater bodies. For example, the Kfour municipality in Keserwan developed a hiking trail connecting four springs. 

As part of their mandate, biospheres work on including and empowering the communities in which they are based. In keeping with that, both the Shouf Biosphere Reserve and the Jabal Moussa Reserve employ youth from the region as guides and guards and support women from the community in producing mouneh (such as jams, syrups, honey) that they brand and sell under the biosphere’s name, taking only a small percentage of profit.

The biospheres have also encouraged the creation of guesthouses and tables d’hôte (when a family opens its doors to visitors for a fixed-price set menu) within these communities. In Jabal Moussa Reserve, there are different formulas for tables  d’hôtestarting with the basic $10 formula of salad, a main meal, and drink, while Shouf Biosphere Reserve fixes the price at $15 for a full lunch. In addition, there are the peripheral businesses that open in proximity of the reserve and benefit from it. These activities include camping sites near the Jabal Moussa Reserve, and horseback riding or cycling next to the Shouf Biosphere Reserve—these activities are not allowed within the reserves.

Hotels and conventional restaurants overlooking freshwater bodies and in proximity to reserves also benefit from increased business. “Barouk has beautiful nature overlooking the river with the backdrop of the cedars forest reserve, and so a lot of people are coming to enjoy the activities in and around the reserve, such as biking and hiking, and end up staying in the area overnight,” says Imad Mahmoud, owner of the Hideout, a guest chalet that opened in the area in October 2018 in response to the increased activity.

The economic potential of ecotourism within and surrounding these reserves is significant. A 2015 study entitled “The Economic Value of the Shouf Biosphere Reserve” found that the biosphere generates revenues in the range of $16.8 million to $21.4 million annually.

To illustrate the economic impact of well-managed natural assets on their surroundings, Joelle Barakat, conservation manager at Jabal Moussa Reserve says: “Before the Jabal Moussa Reserve in 2007, the area did not have much tourism infrastructure, and only hikers or locals knew of the natural sites. With the reserve, more guesthouses and small restaurants have opened. We have 28,000 visitors per year, while at the beginning, there were just 300.” She goes on to explain that their main target is to create a cycle where the whole community is working for and benefitting from the biosphere. 

The river runs through

Despite what is being done at a private level in terms of ecotourism around freshwater bodies, there is definitely room for better organization of this type of tourism and for capitalizing more on freshwater bodies that are not parts of natural reserves.  “You feel that the river itself is not an attraction in Lebanon as we don’t have comprehensive tourism products around our rivers, or a tourism strategy to promote them, like rivers in other cities around the world do,” explains Abu Arrage. “One of the reasons for this is that governance of these rivers is not organized or clear, with municipalities, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Energy and Water, and the Ministry of Interior all having one sort of authority or another over these waterbodies.” 

Visible pollution and littering also stand in the way of fully enjoying freshwater bodies located outside of reserves. Although 10 rivers fall under the Ministry of Environment’s natural protected sites list—meaning certain regulations such as maintaining cleanliness and keeping 16 meters around the river free from construction in theory are in place—Executive’s team found countless examples of littering along these supposedly protected waters.

Such sights negatively impact tourism around those waterbodies, as people want to enjoy nature’s beauty when on an outing, and so would avoid places they hear are polluted, explains Abu Arrage. The polluted state of the Litani has negatively impacted tourism around Lake Qaraoun explains Wissam Massaad, the owner of Chalet Du Lac, a restaurant overlooking the lake. “We had already felt the impact of the pollution on our business in 2017, but 2018 was worse in terms of a decrease in number of clients because there was more coverage of the pollution in 2018,” he says. “People would hear that the Qaraoun smells or looks bad, and would prefer to spend their day elsewhere in Zahle or Anjar.”

If the Ministry of Tourism is to be taken seriously in its appeal for year-long tourism, then it would be well advised to clean up Lebanon’s freshwater bodies and coordinate with stakeholders to capitalize on these beautiful tourism assets through ecotourism and conventional tourism activities—before it is too late.

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Freshwater tourismOverviewSpecial Report

Developing year-long tourism in Lebanon

by Nabila Rahhal
written by Nabila Rahhal

The tourism industry has long been touted as a main contributor to GDP in Lebanon’s services-oriented economy, but it endured an almost four-year long downturn following the onset of the war in Syria in 2012 and the Arab Gulf countries’ travel advisories against Lebanon that have been issued on and off since mid-that year. The tourism industry has been gradually recovering since 2014, and although it is still not back to its much-hailed peak of 2010, it seems there is a strong will among stakeholders to get Lebanon back in its tourism groove.  

On March 19, during an afternoon Q&A session at the national “Towards Sustainable Tourism” conference, Prime Minister Saad Hariri said that several sectors in Lebanon’s economy benefit from tourism and, as such, more attention should be given to the sector. This, he said, should start with “improving our performance and working more scientifically.”

In McKinsey’s Lebanon Economic Vision (LEV), tourism showed up in a double role, once as a proposed driver of economic growth along with other pillars, such as industry and agriculture, and then again as one of three “flagship projects” proposed by the international consultancy firm as “quick wins” for Lebanon. Regardless of the feasibility of implementing its recommendations,  (for a critique of the tourism section of the LEV, see comment), the inclusion of tourism in the report has at least kick-started the conversation on developing and maximizing the potential of the tourism industry in Lebanon.

Winter wonderland

The tourism sector has indeed been getting back on its feet starting 2014. The number of visitors to Lebanon last year was 1.96 million, an increase from 1.86 million in 2017, according to figures from the Ministry of Tourism that show tourism numbers steadily rising these past four years. In its 2018 Economic Impact report, the World Travel and Tourism Council placed tourism’s direct contribution to Lebanese GDP at 6.5 percent, the highest it has been since 2012 (though still considerably lower than the above 10 percent contribution to GDP seen in 2010).

The tourism year started on a positive note with a white blanket of snow encouraging both local and foreign ski enthusiasts to hit the slopes. Both Zaarour Club, a ski resort in Metn’s Zaarour, and the Mzaar Ski Resort, in Kfardebian, reported an active season which began on December 31 last year and ended in the second week of April—as compared to only 20 operational days in the 2018 season for Zaarour Club and a month and a half for Mzaar Ski Resort, which at a higher elevation. Speaking for Zaarour Club, its chairperson and CEO Carol el-Murr says 44,000 skiers took to their slopes this year compared to just 14,000 last season.

Both ski resorts have a hotel on the premises and say occupancy rates this winter were better than those of 2018. While Intercontinental Mzaar was unable to provide occupancy rates, they did disclose that 27 percent of guests were non-Lebanese. Murr says Le Grand Chalet had an average of 58.75 percent occupancy from December through March (as compared to 35.5 percent average occupancy for the same period in 2018), with 57 percent of guests non-Lebanese.

The return

Another positive start to 2019 tourism in Lebanon was Saudi Arabia lifting its travel advisory against Lebanon on February 13. While the impact of this decision can only be really evaluated with the start of the summer season following the Eid el-Fitr break in early June, early indicators are favorable in terms of Saudi tourists further bolstering Lebanon’s tourism sector.

Tourist arrivals to Lebanon for the first two months of 2019 were 231,055, a 4.22 percent increase from the same period in 2018, according to figures from the Ministry of Tourism. The number of Saudi nationals visiting Lebanon during that period (effectively the two weeks following the travel advisory being lifted) was 10,041 as compared to the 6,009 Saudi tourists recorded during the same period last year. According to an earlier interview Executive conducted with head of the syndicate of hotel owners Pierre Achkar (see December 2017 issue), tourists from the Arab Gulf are particularly advantageous to the industry given that their average length of stay in Lebanon is longer—at least 10 days—than tourists from Europe and the Near East, and that they tend to be higher spenders, opting for suites instead of regular rooms, and also spending more in the country. The latest figures from tourist tax refund company Global Blue’s Lebanon insights indicate that tourism spending by Saudi nationals during the first quarter of 2019 increased by 45 percent from the same period in 2018.  

Even if the Saudis visit Lebanon in the numbers that they used to in the years prior to 2012, it seems Minister of Tourism Avedis Guidanian has learned the lesson of not having Lebanon reliant on one tourism stream alone. On April 15, he announced his ministry’s plan to boost the sector through diversifying the tourism markets and attracting visitors from Europe, even while the ministry continues to focus on tourists from the Arab region.

365 days of tourism

As Wadih Kanaan, president of the tourism, transport, and civil regulation committee at the Economic and Social Council, notes, Lebanon has traditionally been a summer destination with a peak number of tourists in July, August, and the first half of September—as well as major holidays like Eid el-Fitr and Christmas—and a drop throughout the year otherwise. Taking 2018’s figures as an example, tourist arrivals to Lebanon peaked in July at 262,779 (with June and August close to July’s highs), while numbers for the rest of the year were significantly lower. For example, Lebanon received only 159,187 tourists in April, and 129,520 in November.

Kanaan believes that if tourism in Lebanon is to be a consistent driver of economic growth, then there has to be a national strategy for year-long tourism that would bring in a more or less steady stream of visitors. He says his committee has been working with a comprehensive list of stakeholders (which includes everyone from managers of car rental companies, to tour operators, to owners of hotels and restaurants, along with heads of tourism syndicates and related ministries of transportation, interior, economy, and environment) to create a national policy for tourism that has achieving year-long tourism as its main goal, an aim that was absent from previous strategies that placed focus on summer beach tourism.

Although details of the strategy have not been shared to date, Kanaan says that in order to achieve year-long tourism—he calls it sustainable tourism—we should start by diversifying Lebanon’s tourist offerings and packaging them into destinations, complete with the proper tourism infrastructure such as hotels, restaurants, and a good transport network, which Kanaan says is key for tourists to be able to get around in Lebanon as they are accustomed to in other countries. “The council’s goal is to have year-long tourism and when we create attractive destinations across Lebanon, we will be able to do just that. For example, if we were able to develop one ski destination in Lebanon which would have 70 hotels with 15,000 rooms then we can market it as a destination abroad,” he says.

According to Kanaan, and based on Executive’s fieldwork, Lebanon does indeed have the potential for diverse tourism offerings that could be further explored and promoted to attract visitors to Lebanon throughout the year. Ecotourism has been on the rise over the past five years, especially during spring when Lebanon’s freshwater bodies are at their peak appeal for more on freshwater tourism, see article. Kanaan is a main promoter of religious tourism in Lebanon and believes this offering lends itself to year-long tourism as those tourists would be in Lebanon for the religious sites, regardless of the season.

Getting the word out

While creating destinations and packaging them is an important first step, it is not enough, says Kanaan. He argues that instead of vaguely marketing Lebanon as a country destination abroad, we should focus on promoting individual destinations that exist in the country but are under-used or promoted for more on marketing Lebanon, see comment. “Instead of promoting Lebanon as a whole we should promote tourism destinations inside of Lebanon because we have a diversity of offerings in Lebanon. We can have a destination for skiing, another one for cultural tourism, another one for religious tourism, beach tourism and so on … so a European would come to Lebanon because he is interested in ecotourism for example. We have all this to offer, but we don’t have a clear identity for any of tourism assists that would make it a destination,” explains Kanaan.

Despite a soon-to-be launched strategy for year-long tourism in Lebanon, the country remains the busiest in summer for now. As such, summer 2019 will be a telling test as to whether tourism can indeed be a viable contributor to the economy. 

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LeadersOpinion

Freshwater sites need to be protected and promoted

by Executive Editors
written by Executive Editors

Various stakeholders—from the current and previous ministers of tourism and heads of hospitality-related syndicates to restaurant operators and local retail business owners—have all said that tourism was a main driver of the Lebanese economy. Speaking at a March conference on tourism entitled “Towards Sustainable Tourism,” Prime Minister Hariri said he believed that the total contribution of tourism to GDP could eventually reach 50 percent—including both direct and indirect tourism—noting that several sectors benefit from tourism and it should therefore be given more attention by the government.

It is high time that the government puts its money where its mouth is when it comes to tourism. While it is true that tourism has been a pillar of the Lebanese economy in politically stable years—tourism directly contributed 14 percent of GDP in 2003 and just under 11 percent in 2010, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council—this has not been thanks to a national effort to promote the sector in Lebanon. Stakeholders and the government say tourism is important to the economy, but, if they truly believe that, then they should show it: first, by preserving what is left of Lebanon’s natural beauty and developing those areas’ tourism potential, and second, by having a comprehensive and smart marketing strategy, backed by the political will to achieve it.

Executive’s team toured through Lebanon last month in search of the country’s most tourist-attractive freshwater bodies. Imagine our frustration upon seeing that what was not managed by a conservation or natural reserve committee was, at best, neglected—barely heard of and hard to find—and, at worst, littered with trash and waste. The levels of pollution in some of Lebanon’s rivers and lakes has serious implications for our health, but even if we look at it solely from the angle of promoting tourism, visitors to these natural sites will not enjoy them if they come surrounded by trash and with plastic bags and plates floating in the water.

Eight of the rivers in Lebanon that are not part of a reserve or conservation  are “nature sites” under the protection of the Ministry of Environment, including the Ibrahim River—parts of which Executive saw littered. Another four of these freshwater bodies that are not part of a reserve or conservation were labeled as “sites of natural importance in need of protection” under the Ministry of Environment’s Lebanon’s Natural Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. Regulations to protect these natural sites already exist under Lebanese law, what is needed is their enforcement. This can be achieved by having municipal police present on these sites to monitor visitors’ behavior and speak to violators to make them understand that they are ruining the beauty of these sites for themselves and others. 

If this awareness building approach  does not work, then preventing people from bringing in food and drinks outside of designated areas around freshwater bodies could be the only solution. When Jabal Moussa Reserve (JMR) first took over management of Chouwen River in 2015, they found that it was common for people to trek downhill to barbecue by the river and leave their trash lying on its banks when they left. JMR management decided to forbid food and drinks around Chouwen, and while they were met with opposition at first, today people are happy to just enjoy the walk and the beauty of the river and take their barbecuing elsewhere when done. Lebanon’s natural sites deserve to be protected before it is too late and we lose them to trash.

Once these sites—and many other sites of natural beauty that exist in Lebanon—are protected from pollution and littering, it would be time to set in place a strategy to develop and promote them for tourism. This strategy has to include all stakeholders, starting with the Ministry of Tourism and tourism syndicates as the overarching bodies, but also including the municipalities where these sites are located, and the ministries of interior, economy, environment, and transport. All of these entities have to come together to see that these sites are well-maintained, accessible, have proper tourism infrastructure, and are well-promoted.

Proper promotion requires stakeholders to assess previous tourism strategies and to learn from mistakes past. It also needs a sizable budget for the tourism ministry that would allow it to market Lebanon in tourism exhibitions and to open new market channels—if used smartly, with an emphasis on digital marketing, then a lot could be done with even a small increase of the budget. As part of its Lebanon Economic Vision, international consulting firm McKinsey outlined their, at times, highly unrealistic strategy to promote Lebanon’s tourism sector. Despite all that can be critiqued in McKinsey’s vision, it still has ideas that may be worth discussing further in the long term; however, in the short term, the simpler plan would be to preserve and promote our tourism assets. 

Most importantly, however, there needs to be a political will by all stakeholders to back up tourism in Lebanon and to coordinate and work together to achieve a stronger and more consistent tourism industry. The government has talked the talk for a long time when it comes to attracting more visitors—and more diverse nationalities—to Lebanon, it is time to walk the walk.

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EditorialOpinion

Trust in nature

by Yasser Akkaoui
written by Yasser Akkaoui

The government’s latest push toward reforms has uncovered just how incompetent our political class truly are. It almost makes you wish they had not even started. Before, the Lebanese had hope that one day their politicians would be backed into a corner and forced to make the necessary changes for the good of the country. Now the day has come and hope is fading. It is simply against their DNA—their very nature—to change. How can they dismantle a corrupt system that took them decades to perfect in such a short time? Acting against their own self-interest is a foreign concept to them. It would be like asking the awkward dad dancing at a disco to perform Swan Lake at the Bolshoi and giving him three months to get up to speed. 

What is even more bewildering is how everyone in the political class is pointing fingers and accusing each other of being a thief. Surely logic would dictate they are all thieves. And who is investigating these corruption accusations anyway? No one, it seems. The Lebanese would rather watch HBO’s Game of Thrones than their own version with no one to root for. 

Meanwhile, the negativity and talk of sanctions continues to swirl around the country—a level of pessimism unseen since the Intra Bank collapse of 1967. This pessimism is not wholly a product of our situation, there seems to be an agency at work to make it seem as though Lebanon is worse off financially than it actually is. Lebanon is a country at a crossroads; it can either take its place in an increasingly globalized world, or be dragged into an increasingly isolated and isolationist camp. And who will benefit then? Certainly not the Lebanese people. 

There are, however, rare glimmers of hope. The pollution of our largest river, the Litani, is finally being taken seriously by authorities. It is past time. Access to clean water is a fundamental human right, one the corporations and municipalities along the banks of the Litani have been denying us. And let’s not fool ourselves here, steps to clean the Litani are only being taken because there are no special interests in the way. The laws to protect our rivers and nature have existed for years—only now our politicians are actually enforcing them. 

If we can get our act together and stop polluting the Litani, the river will do the rest. Nature can restore the balance once humans get out of the way. Our hope and trust is in nature itself, not in the nature of men. 

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Last wordOpinion

Fighting harassment at work in Lebanon

by Karim Nammour
written by Karim Nammour

The need to adopt a legal framework to tackle harassment in the workplace in Lebanon has been garnering more space in the public debate during the last couple of months, especially after the success of the almost global #MeToo campaign. In fact, many in the labor sector—especially women and transgender persons, who are verbally or sexually harassed by a colleague or manger, once they gather enough courage to speak-out—often find themselves unable to file a lawsuit against the perpetrator. Instead, they are trapped in a disheartening legal vacuum given the absence of a proper legal framework to fight harassment on one hand and given existing rigid legal imperatives on the other that notably require the victim proves harassment actually occurred. Yes, allegations must be proven, and the alleged perpetrator remains “innocent until proven guilty,” social peace requires it. However, harassment is not assault, and its existence is often contingent on the victim’s perception of the facts. Therefore, an objective search for the truth is not necessarily compatible with fighting harassment, especially when power-dynamics and patriarchal culture are factored-in. It is precisely for this reason that there is a pressing need to adopt a comprehensive legal framework in the country.

Today, there are at least three different draft laws on sexual harassment that are being proposed in Lebanon. The first one was submitted to Parliament in 2017 by former MP Ghassan Moukheiber and was adopted for less than five minutes before being immediately retracted given the opposition of some MPs, who voiced fears the law would lead to blackmail and vengeful acts against employers. The second law was submitted during the mandate of Jean Oghassabian as Minister of State for Women’s Affairs and adopted by the Council of Ministers on March 8, 2017. In a previous critical review of both draft laws, I had pinpointed many of their problematic issues which may, in fact, counteract the goals they had set, mainly:

The Oghassabian draft law adopts a definition of harassment that recognizes vertical ascendant harassment (meaning that employers can allege being harassed by their employees and sue them on that basis). This recognition is not compatible with the type of hierarchical work-relationships that exist in Lebanon and was only noted in a few rare examples in comparative law within societies where work-relations are of a more cooperative nature. This can, in fact, lead employers to counter-sue employees who claim they are being harassed at work.

On the other hand, both draft laws use an affirmative phrasing in their definition of harassment, meaning that the victim must not only prove the facts but also the damage—such as psychological stress—incurred, which greatly limits the possibility of ever filing a lawsuit in that regard given the complexities of harassment cases in terms of proving damage.

Both draft laws also rely on criminal justice to resolve sexual harassment claims. This may have a deterrent effect on victims given the very public and repressive nature of criminal justice. The aim of legislators should not be limited to compensating victims, but should also ensure the sustainability of their jobs. In that regard a criminal lawsuit against the employer is problematic.

In 2012, I participated—along with various lawyers, researchers, feminist activists, judges, and union members—in writing a comprehensive draft law on sexual and moral harassment at the workplace and outside of it within the “Adventures of Salwa” project undertaken by Nasawiya, a feminist collective NGO. This draft law was written after months of research. Its definition of harassment reduces the burden of the proof on the victims, opens the option to resort to civil courts, safeguards jobs, and establishes an obligation on employers to protect their employees from harassment and find an internal mechanism of complaint and investigation to deal with harassment allegations. The draft law was submitted to the National Commission for Lebanese Women in 2018.

Meanwhile, given the legal vacuum that exists, there are certain loopholes victims of harassment can use in the Labor Code to file a complaint. Indeed article 75 of the Code states that an employee is entitled to quit their job and get paid “dismissal compensation” if the employer or their representative commits an act of violence against them. Since the early 1950s, Lebanese courts have interpreted such acts to include verbal acts of violence (harassment may be considered one of them). It is within that framework and given the current legal situation that we at the Legal Agenda have decided to draft a model defense specifically dedicated to victims of harassment at work. The model defense shall be published within the next couple of months and disseminated for free on our online platform legal-agenda.com.

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Hospitality & TourismNightlife

The nightclub business in Lebanon

by Nabila Rahhal
written by Nabila Rahhal

When The Axis of Evil comedy tour performed in early 2008, Lebanon—for the first time in its history—did not have a president, and was in the midst of a politically unstable and tense period that culminated with the Doha Accord later that year. Despite the situation, Maz Jobrani, one of the group’s stand-up comedians, humorously observed that the Lebanese were still going out clubbing as if everything was fine.

Jobrani was not the first—nor the last—to comment on the Lebanese’s panache for partying like there is no tomorrow regardless of the country’s state. While the idea of Beirut as the party capital of the Middle East can lend itself to cliché, the reality is that the breadth of different kinds of nightclubs found in Lebanon—relative to its size—is impressive. Beirut and its immediate suburbs seem to have it all, whether it is live performances by local oriental musicians or international DJs flown in for the weekend; venues can vary from glamorous rooftop clubs where DJs play a set of commercial hits, to clubs in renovated warehouses playing electronic music into the small hours.

Starting in 2012, however, the Lebanese clubbing scene fell prey to the same pressures as others in the hospitality sector, feeling the effects of a deteriorating economic situation. The number of tourists and expats visiting the country were decreasing year-on-year, leaving cash-strapped locals unable to make up the difference. Partying, while still part of the Lebanese DNA, was becoming more of a luxury—one that many locals could no longer afford at the levels they had before.

While numbers have begun to pick up over the past two years, most club owners Executive spoke with are still operating under the premise that tourism is low, and so they must adapt to cater to the realities of the local market. This past year, however, did see some new venues open, lending hope to the idea of a reinvigorated clubbing scene.

The Gärten by Uberhaus

Where’s the party at?

Before 2012, major nightclubs in Lebanon—such as SKYBAR or White Beirut—would be open and full almost every night of the week. Nowadays, it is still not feasible for clubs to open all week. In order to maximize profits, clubs stay shuttered on nights they know their venues will not be busy enough to justify opening costs. All nightclubs Executive spoke to say they open only a few nights a week, ranging between one and two nights during winter (on weekends) and up to four nights during the summer when locals are more in the mood to party and when at least some expats and tourists visit, increasing the clientele at clubs.

For Michel Fadel, a musician and co-partner of O by Michel Fadel, a live music nightclub in Antelias, opening only on Fridays and Saturdays not only makes economic sense, but also creates a good energy for live music. “It’s like being in a concert on these nights. Also, [it] makes more economic sense than to be open all week and only get half the number of people or less,” he says. “If I have 2,000 customers per week on average that’s 8,000 customers a month and that is enough for me.”

The impact of the uptick tourism is clearly yet to be felt by Lebanon’s clubs though Naji Gebran, founder of B018, an nightclub in a renovated bunker in Karantina, notes that the situation is getting better. “People used to spend more on clubbing before, especially when we had the tourists from the Gulf who would spend without asking,” he says. “But now things are looking up since the ban on Saudi nationals has been lifted and they can visit Lebanon again. Arabs like to spend and have a good time, and so their return [to Lebanon] will be good.”

[/media-credit] O by Michel Fadel

For Joe Mourani, owner of The Ballroom Blitz, an electronic music venue on Dora’s seaside road, being a Friday-only venue was more a matter of testing the market for electronic music than any economic consideration (The Ballroom Blitz also opens on holiday nights and for special events). As the venue exclusively plays electronic music, Mourani was unsure at first whether Lebanese could handle “two full electronic music nights in a row.” Since opening in December 2018, he says he has been pleasantly surprised by the interest—he says his 1,400 capacity venue is full most Fridays—and he now opens one Saturday a month for “take-over” nights.

In contrast to The Ballroom Blitz’s singular focus, other venues in Lebanon offer theme nights, switching from oriental hits one evening to disco classics another in order to maximize appeal and thus, profit. Claude Saba, chief operating officer of Addmind Group, a hospitality management company that operates Caprice, Nude, Iris, and Zuruni, as well as other restaurants, bars, and clubs in Lebanon and the UAE, says they focus on the local market in Lebanon—as opposed to Dubai, which has a lot of tourists. Having different themes on the four nights of the week when Caprice—their summer-only venue on Dora’s seaside roads, open Wednesday to Saturday—is open helps them attract a different crowd each night.

Hibernation mode

In winter, attracting regular club-goers is even harder in Lebanon, as the number of tourists and expats decreases and the locals enter hibernation mode. In response, some nightclubs choose to further restrict the number of nights they operate.

Ali Saleh, co-founder of Uberhaus and The Gärten, says their latest venue for their winter club Uberhaus (which was opened six months prior to Gärten), will be Karantina at end of 2019, but it will have a smaller capacity than Gärten’s 4,000. “The new Uberhaus will have a capacity of 2,500 because the winter market is different than the summer one in that there are less tourists, less expats, less spending—people don’t want to go out as much as they do in the summer,” he says. Saleh and his partners already have a monthly pop-up event in Kfardebian, Mount Lebanon, called Electric Sundown, and so do not want to cannibalize that by having a large winter venue in Beirut. 

Money money money

Despite the relative decrease in business, night clubs—if operated properly—are the most lucrative hospitality venues, according to Saba, who is making the comparison with his group’s experiences across restaurants, clubs, and bars. “Clubs make their money through volume and 90 percent of your turnover would be from alcohol, for [bars] it’s 60 percent alcohol, and the rest is from food, while for restaurants it’s almost the opposite and 70 percent of your turnover is from food,” he says. “If all is working well, restaurants are long-term investments although the profit margin is not that high. The nightclubs industry has the highest percentage of profit because it is based on alcohol, but its lifetime is short, and you have to reinvest annually to keep the look fresh.”

Nightclubs in Lebanon earn their profits either through ticketing (taking an entrance fee) or through a set minimum spend on tables; the latter of which is the model that commercial (or mainstream music) and live music venues follow. Commercial clubs usually rely on local DJs, meaning they have fewer costs than electronic music clubs that tend to fly in international DJs, and so can profit from table seating alone, Saba explains. Such clubs have an obligatory minimum spend to ensure that customers do not hog tables all night without spending enough to cover their costs. For Caprice, the minimum charge ranges from $65 for high tables to $100 for the lounge areas, which accommodate larger groups.

[media-credit id=1966 align=”aligncenter” width=”590″][/media-credit]

For electronic music clubs, ticketing is very important. “Even if we don’t sell anything else but the ticketing that night, the money from the ticketing would be suffice to pay the artist at least,” says Gebran. “Anything extra is good to pay back our costs and make profit.” Entrance fees to B018 range from $20 to a maximum of $50 depending on the DJ.

Saleh says he and his partners introduced the concept of ticketing to Lebanon through the original Uberhaus in Hamra back in 2012, and continue to use it with Gärten today. It makes sense for them to do, he explains, as they have large venues and so work on volume, not spending per capita—entrance fees for Gärten range from $15 to $25.

Clubs have their own costs to contend with before they rake in the profits. For Gebran, the biggest expense is rent, followed closely by the music set. Saba says that their biggest costs come from production—lighting, sound, and LED screens. Aside from the cost of production, Saba says proper ventilation through air conditioners is another big expense for winter nightclubs. As for Uberhaus’ Saleh, the cost of artists has become the biggest expense, as competition to secure international artists increases. (For more on artists, see profile article).

It seems the Lebanese are maintaining their party reputation for now. However, the uptick in tourists and expat visitors needs time to have an effect on the ground before Beirut’s clubs can get back to their heydays, when they could operate without worry every night of the week.

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Lebanon 2019Young Lions Print Competition

Young Lions Print Competition

by Executive Staff
written by Executive Staff

The time is here for the fifth edition of the Young Lions Print Competition, which aims to search for the most talented and creative team to represent Lebanon in the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2019 that takes place in Cannes.

Executive Magazine, the country representative for the Lions festival challenges Lebanon’s young creative minds on May 4, 2019 at the American University of Beirut to take part in the National Young Lions Print Competition.

The Cannes Lions, the most prestigious awards in the advertising industry, explores the value of creativity in branded communications and provide participants with access to innovative ideas, pioneering consumer research, and emerging technologies, all of which will help shape the future of popular culture.

The winners of the Young Lions Print competition will have complimentary access to the festival and will represent Lebanon in the global Young Lions competition at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on June 17-21, 2019.

Take the challenge now and get the opportunity to compete against peers from all over the world and be a part of a greatly rewarding experience that could change your career forever.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw9T-BuHDdA[/embedyt]

HOW IT WORKS
– Young Lions must be 30 years of age or younger, born on or after 21 June 1988
– One creative team (consisting of one copywriter and one art director) to produce a print ad within 7 hours
– Participants should be working in creative communications/ advertising/ digital agencies
– Freelancers are accepted to compete in this competition
– Entrants must be Lebanon residents
– All work created during the competition is judged by the selected jury composed of creative directors from several advertising agencies
– All entries should be submitted in either Arabic or English
– The competition brief will focus on charitable, not-for-profit and CSR objectives
– The competition brief is revealed to competitors as the competition commences
– The participation fee per team for the Young Lions Print Competition 2019 is $200
– The winners will be announced on May 8, 2019

 

 

ONLY TWO LIONS WILL MAKE THE FINAL CUT AND WIN
– A trip to Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (including travel and accommodation)
– The chance to participate in the global Young Lions competition and compete with other young creative talents from around the world
– The opportunity to showcase their work to the Cannes Lions jury – composed of top professionals working in the industry
– A chance to win the top prize in Cannes and be rewarded on stage at the prestigious Cannes Lions Awards Show

 

REGISTER NOW

Register Now by filling this form and sending a copy of your identity card to Mrs. Maguy Ghorayeb at [email protected].

For more info about the competition please contact Executive Magazine on +961 1 611 696

Registration deadline: April 28, 2019.

 

 

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Hospitality & TourismNightlifeProfiles

Lebanese DJs on the music scene in Lebanon

by Sarah Shaar
written by Sarah Shaar

Beirut’s local DJs have been creating a buzz among the country’s music-loving community. Some are co-owners or resident DJs at some of the biggest clubs in the country, others, such as those profiled below, circulate the scene playing different sets at Beirut’s electronic music clubs. From playing sets and producing music, to sound engineering and sound design, DJing as a profession is much more than just a set list. The DJs Executive profiled all play an important part in Beirut’s diverse music scene, they explain why they chose to focus on music as a career.

LILIANE CHLELA

Starting out her career 16 years ago Liliane Chlela was one of the first female DJs in Lebanon to join the scene. With only three other women in the game, she felt that she was being used as a marketing tool in the industry. Shortly after realizing that on top of the misdirected attention she had to be playing top hits to get booked, she decided to put DJing to the side and focus on production. 

Her journey in production started 10 years ago using manually rewired gear to obtain certain sounds; she only switched to digital in the last six years. Chlela still limits her use of software to editing and recording and uses what she has around her as instruments to produce sound.

She has been experimenting with her sound since, forming her sonic identity by always pushing her boundaries and working with artists who follow a different style. For the past two years, Chlela has been collaborating with Hamed Sinno, the lead singer of the Arab-Indie band Mashrou’ Leila, on the Butcher’s Bride, which combines Chlela’s signature sound of live electronics and production with Sinno’s distinct vocal stylings and lyricism: “We got to work together thanks to Beirut and Beyond, they wanted to throw a fundraiser, and they asked us if we had the time. We just clicked.”

Chlela also caught the attention of Boiler Room, a global online music broadcasting platform that has hosted shows in over 100 cities worldwide. Her session was chosen as part of their underground coverage of the scene in Beirut.

She mentions that gender imbalance in the line-up selection is still an issue and is currently working on shedding more light on this matter while figuring out tangible solutions.

Chlela admits that in previous years, it was easier to make a living out of DJing, remembering a time where she was charging $500 a set and sometimes earning $2000 a weekend. The fact that at the time DJ’s were rare to come by definitely contributed to the difference in the going rate. With the advancements in technology that led to the increase of DJ’s, the rate has been cut nearly in half for the local talent.

She explains that the best attitude to have is to always think that there is more out there: “Try everything you can, even if it sounds bad. Never let the aim or the goal be that you get to somewhere and think that you’ve made it. Keep trying. It’s very important.”

TASH HOCHAR

Tash Hochar owes her skills and passion for music to her father, Walid Hochar, who also DJs. As her world was always musical, she tries to attend most events and support local talent. Adding to her influence is DJ Gunther Sabbagh, known for his radio show Underground Sessions with Gunther and Stamina on Mix FM, as well as his long-time residency at BO18. For Hochar, “There is only one Gunther.”

Working as a copywriter, ghost writer, and digital strategist for eight years, she decided to leave the corporate world and dedicate her time to her career in music. Still accepting freelance writing jobs during the day from clients that she values, she is also the co-founder and music director of Thirteen Management, an event management company currently throwing techno events. She plays four to eight sets a month.

Hochar argues that what helps the industry grow is being present. She is always on the look-out for new local talent, as she sees that the nightlife industry is booming, with a rising interest in electronic music. She says that the networking that goes on at these events, venues with DJs and attendees plays a big part in the growing scene.

She studied music production at Per-vurt in Beirut, and later traveled to South East Asia to expand her knowledge and also work as a DJ. Hochar produces tracks in her home studio, however she has not yet released any, as she is still building her skills and does not want to rush the process.

For her, interacting with people through music is a magical experience. She enjoys seeing the effect music has on the crowd, and often bounces around with the crowd from behind the decks: “I may be a DJ, but my heart’s always on the dance floor with the people.”

Hochar was also featured in Damascus and The Ivory Coast: “I get booked by people who have watched me perform in Beirut. When I’m outside of Lebanon, I always love to explore the music scene of other countries, and I make friends easily.”

To her, the scene is only getting bigger, with large potential for Beirut to break the barriers.

WILLIAM MAHFOUD

William Mahfoud started his career in sound in London, where he got a degree in sound engineering. First playing his way through the underground circles, he eventually found himself featured on The Ministry of Sound. Mahfoud later moved to Dubai where he mixed and produced adverts for various agencies there and abroad. During his time there, he also managed to nurture his DJing skills as a resident DJ for the longest running club night in Dubai, Night Vibes, which is run by Rima Rached, and played alongside big international acts including Terry Francis, Dance Spirit, Dinky, Joyce Muniz, and Pillowtalk.

When asked about what helped him form his sonic identity Mahfoud mentions the Kaotik System and Silver Factory crews, who introduced more alternative electronic sound into the country, as well as DJs Dansz, Cesar K, and Fady Aswad, who played a variety of genres ranging from minimal house to breakcore. “They all shaped my sound today, and I owe them everything,” he says.

Mahfoud, who also goes by the stage name Rise 1969, has also been producing his own music for eight years with two albums and two EPs under his belt. While also working as a sound engineer at Red Booth Studios in Jounieh, he finds time to make his own music—while guzzling coffee at an alarming rate—and DJs at bars such as Abbey Road in Mar Mikhael, and clubs like Reunion, where at the time of interview he had played his semi-final set for the BBX competition, The Ballroom Blitz, and Projekt.

He explains that making a living out of DJing is difficult if it is done out of passion; to continuously bring something new is challenging, more so than mixing top hits that are known to be crowd pleasers. He sees no problem getting booked in Lebanon as opposed to how it is internationally, since the country is small, which makes it easier to gain popularity through word of mouth and social media.

However, Mahfoud believes that the electronic music bubble might burst soon, as he fears that the techno scene will become another passing trend. On the upside, he argues that it has generated some die hard fans and sub-communities that will carry it to the future through small event promoters who have “a musical identity” and a regular following, as opposed to those just following the current trend.

ZIAD MOUKARZEL

Escalier 301B

Ziad Moukarzel started getting serious about DJing in 2007. During that time he was working at popular alternative-music store, La CD-Tech, alongside Jad Soueid (Jade) from The Grand Factory and Ziad Nawfal, who co-owns the music label Ruptured—which Moukarzel is a member of—and who has been a radio show host on Radio Liban since the early 1990s. First accepting gigs at various bars around Beirut, Moukarzel broke into the club scene in 2013, when he played his debut set in Yukunkun, Gemmayze.

His influences came from movements spreading rave culture, such as Kaotik System, and Acousmatik, as well as long standing friendships with DJ Dansz, and Nawfal. He developed a taste for various genres, which he sometimes sees as a disadvantage as he finds that it can be challenging to be promoted as something that is not strictly house, tech-house, or techno. With a background in cinema, Moukarzel was found moving toward sound, “It was something interesting to give the value of sound because sound is always present.”

In 2016, Moukarzel moved back from Qatar, where he was working as a segment producer at Al-Rayyan TV station, to focus on his career in music and sound. He opened Woodwork Studios with his partner, located in Hadath, Beirut. However, he does admit that: “It’s a lot of work, and it’s expensive. You’re paying the studio rent, and the equipment, which is not cheap. My desk alone is $35,000, plus there are the acoustics of the room.” He charges his sound design services at a range of $300-$500 per day, and is mostly selective with what he takes on. When he’s not working on design or DJing, he works on his own productions that he has played live on a modular synthesizer as a solo act at Reunion, and with Akram Hajj in their indie electronica duo “Escalier 301B” at venues like The Ballroom Blitz, and B018.

Moukarzel won second runner-up in last year’s BBX competition, however, he was unable to join the one-week residency at Riverside Studios in Berlin due to complications with his visa process. He holds music production workshops and DJing lessons at vinyl record store and bar Orient Express, Tota, and Riwaq.

He prefers playing clubs to working in the studio: “Being on stage is different. It is a different feeling, it’s an ‘in the moment’ kind of feeling where you have to be literally in the moment all the time, and it takes a lot of focus to deliver whatever you want to deliver in a specific amount of time.”

DANNY SAMAHA

Danny Samaha, who goes by the stage name DJ Dansz, has been DJing for almost 30 years. He began his career back in the 1990’s, and was one of the first to play spaces like since shuttered Basement. Over the years he has taken sabbaticals from DJing, but he has never completely left the scene. Just last year, in August, he got the chance to play the closing set for his greatest influence in electronic music, German techno DJ Dominik Eulberg. Samaha took this opportunity to present Eulberg with a book on the different species of birds native to Lebanon, as Eulberg used to be a forest ranger and is wildly passionate about birds and known to use sounds from nature in his work. Samaha played his first set in the Ballroom of The Ballroom Blitz on March 23.

Samaha has also been featured internationally in Cyprus, Oman, Dubai, and more recently Paris. Most bookings are done through word of mouth and friends. He is a full-time DJ, playing at bars like L’Osteria in Mar Mikhael, and Cayenne, Gemmayze three times a week, and now making a comeback into the club scene. Over the years Samaha has established his reputation among audiences and his fellow DJs, he is known in the scene as producing exceptional sounds during every set, and doing his best to ensure everyone goes home satisfied.

Him and his wife Zeina have collaborated to form Escape, a semi-private party that is not advertised to the masses and instead relies on word of mouth through smaller groups on social media. So far, they have thrown four of these events, in Aramoun, Khalde, Achkout, and Batroun. Samaha sees them as the perfect getaway for those looking for a relaxing atmosphere with some great melodic beats. The fourth Escape had around 40 guests, and Samaha predicts the numbers gradually growing as more and more people gain interest in this concept of partying. He will be throwing the next one on April 25. He says, “This is exactly why I DJ, it is the ultimate way for me to do it. I am playing my music and doing everything not to impress anyone, but rather to create the best space that will make you feel good.”

His advice to anyone who is starting out is to “remember that you play for the people. Don’t ever forget that. This is your job, without the people you have nothing to do. You play to make the people happy.”

JAD TALEB

Jad Taleb was the first winner of The Grand Factory’s BBX competition. He started his career in DJing at Yukunkun, Gemmayze, in 2015 when he was celebrating the launch of his debut album for his former electro-rock band The Flum Project. His local influences were Arab trip-hop band Soap Kills, Lebanese hip-hop band Aks el-Ser, and jazz composer Toufic Farroukh.

He has released several tracks with labels like Exploited Records located in Berlin, Red Bull Music Academy, and Smiley Fingers in London. “Producing music reflects my introvert personality, and I love it. I like to spend a lot of quality time in my studio,” Taleb says. “ I [also] like to DJ because it’s the best way to interact with your audience.” Though, he does mention that a challenge he faces in the scene is the inevitable “Eh eh, yalla yalla,” coming from the over eager members of the crowd when the beat drops.

Through the BBX program in 2016, he was introduced to promoters in the scene who were interested in his sound. He eventually found himself touring in Berlin, Paris, Stuttgart, Marseille, Bielefeld, Saalburg-Ebersdorf, and Tunis the following year. “It was nice, it was the peak of my Europe experience in 2017,” he says.

When playing at clubs, he looks for the places with an identity—clubs that like to tell a story and serve a greater purpose, as opposed to clubs running only to turn profit. And to him, clubs like The Grand Factory and The Ballroom Blitz offer just that. It is at The Ballroom Blitz that he and art director Maria Kassab will showcase his audio visual platform “Assault on Structure,” which features interactive exhibitions and live performances from local artists yet to make their break, or those who rarely play live. He explains, “Most of the people who worked with us in Assault started projects, launching an album, or wanted to perform a new live set, so we worked on this to promote [them] locally and internationally.”

Taleb believes that Beirut’s electronic-music culture has yet to form its own sound, like Chicago with house music. He theorizes that perhaps this is because Lebanon has seen many a civilization come and go, constantly changing the country’s identity.

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