subject: 5 stars Hotels in Lebanon : What is needed - A factual sheet [print this page] 5 stars Hotels in Lebanon : What is needed - A factual sheet
According to the latest results registered by Hotels in Lebanon and to the latest information coming from the Ministry of Tourism in Lebanon, the Tourism Sector is in continuous expansion, in spite of a lot of contradictory information being published and communicated here and there.
The occupancy rate of Hotels in Lebanon is continuously growing, and this shows easily in the Hotels Revenues Sheets. The percentage of occupancy of the Hotels is currently around 80% for the whole year,with high 100% rates during Christmas and end of year period, during spring and summer, and an occupancy rate varying between 70% and 100% in the other periods of the year.
These digits are based on last year hotels in Lebanon results, and they are mainly the results of the high-end range of hotels in all the Lebanese Regions. Unfortunately, the occupancy rate of 3 stars hotels wasn't studied for lack of information, or lack of valid information.
The minister of tourism stated recently that the possibilities are infinite for investment and cooperation in the touristic sector in Lebanon. pointed out that the hotels sector is indeed the one that has grown the most in the region, that growth is above 20% for the previous period.
The tourism minister stated that last year digits were more than 2 million visitors and 5 billion euros revenues, and 1.850 million visitors for the past 11 months of the period, which constitutes a growth of 35% if the digits are compared to those of 2008.
According to the tourism minister, the barometer of the world tourism published by the World Tourism Organization noted that the tourists number increased by approximately 46.3% during the first quarter of 2009, in opposition with the same period of the previous year. This rate has been the highest between the 165 countries that the report studied. The minister of tourism also pointed out that the high number of institutions related to tourism is not enough and that Lebanon misses a lot of opportunities in the different tourism sectors,among which the proliferation of 3 stars hotels, some or a lot of tourism oriented towards culture that can help the internal regions develop their tourism, and centers for leisure and cultural tourism that in turn would contribute to the development of business tourism.
Concerning the latter, the minister stated that the country has achieved a lot even though infrastructures for expositions and congresses are primitive. Beirut Hotels have hosted a lot of conferences in the environment, medical, information technology, religious, economical and jewelry sectors, which gave a boost to the flow of tourists and its growth in Lebanon in the previous year.
Fadi Abboud concluded: "Other sectors have also seen some growth, like real estate and banking and financial services."
