Lebanon tourist arrivals down 13 percent

BEIRUT, Lebanon – The number of incoming tourists to Lebanon totaled 145,891 in the first two months of 2014, constituting a decrease of 13.4% from 168,471 tourists in the same period last year, a decline of 24.6% from 193,383 tourists in the first two months of 2012 and a drop of 28.8% from 204,979 in the same period of 2011, Byblos Bank ‘Lebanon This Week’ reported.

Arab tourists accounted for 35.3% of total visitors in the first two months of 2014 and were followed by visitors from European countries with 32.5%, the Americas with 14.6%, Asia with 9.7%, Africa with 5.2% and Oceania with 2.7%. Also, tourists from Iraq accounted for 14.1% of total visitors in the first two months of 2014, followed by visitors from France with 8.7%, the United States with 7.3%, Jordan with 6.3%, Egypt with 6.2% and Canada with 4.9%.

The number of visitors from Arab countries declined by 19.5% year-on-year in the first two months of 2014, followed by visitors from Asian countries with a 14.3% decrease, Europe (-11.4%), Africa (-10%), Oceania (-3.2%) and the Americas (-2.7%). Further, the number of tourists from the UAE declined by 65% annually, followed by Turkey with a 56.3% decrease, Saudi Arabia (-55.7%), Kuwait (-53.9%), Jordan (-29.2%), England (-15.1%), Sweden (-14.8%), France (-7.9%), Brazil (-6.5%), Canada (-5.6%), Germany (-5.4%), the United States (-1.3%), and Egypt (-0.5%).

In parallel, the number of tourists from Iraq rose by 9.5% annually, followed by those from Brazil (9.1%) and Italy (8%).