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Tourism is Lebanon’s biggest missed opportunity

A new report highlights the wasted potential of the tourism sector in Lebanon.
A general view shows a closed ski resort due to the lack of snow in north of Beirut, Lebanon March 7, 2014. The mountains north of Beirut, usually covered in a heavy layer of snow and brimming with skiers, snowboarders and other winter tourists, are brown, muddy and completely empty this season. An unseasonably warm and dry winter - the mildest in decades - has decimated seasonal tourism in Lebanon and endangered the harvest of its vineyards which export prize-winning wines around the world. Picture taken M
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A few days ago, the World Travel & Tourism Council published a report titled “Travel & Tourism, Economic Impact 2014, Lebanon.” The report’s contents were not surprising. It shows numbers indicating the importance of the tourism sector in Lebanon because tourism contributes to the national income, creates jobs, and accounts for a significant portion of the labor market.

The report reveals the size of the economic potential of the tourism sector, which until now has not been fully invested. In other words, the report showed the cost of missed opportunity arising from the lack of stability and from the delay in implementing structural reforms that are necessary for all productive sectors and for the public administration.

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