The Lebanese Minister of Tourism, Walid Nassar, revealed that the number of tourists and arrivals has exceeded 1.5 million, despite the economic and other infrastructure-related difficulties the country is facing.
Nassar explained that the total tourism revenues amounted to 4.5 billion dollars, at a difficult time when the country needs foreign exchange to meet the import bill.
The government had intensified propaganda campaigns in an effort to attract the largest number of foreign tourists and expatriates, and their hard currencies.
Since late 2019, Lebanon has been suffering from a severe economic crisis, classified by the World Bank as one of the 3 most severe crises the world has known since the mid-19th century.
In the summer, the tourism sector in Lebanon depends on private sea resorts, state-sponsored music festivals, restaurants, art galleries, and sports activities.
The Secretary-General of the Federation of Tourist Syndicates, Jean Beiruti, revealed that the value of the revenues reached 3.5 billion dollars.
Source (Anadolu Agency, Edited)
