BEIRUT, Lebanon – The tourism sector in Lebanon witnessed a growth of 30 percent in 2014 compared to the year before, Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon said Sunday.
“The Tourism Ministry made some great efforts to improve the performance of the sector in 2014 compared to the previous year,” he said. Pharaon added that tourism activity in January 2015 increased by 38 percent with the number of Saudi visitors going up by 118 percent in that period. His remarks came during his meeting with representatives of the various economic sectors in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Taleb al-Rifai, secretary-general of the World Tourism Organization, said the tourism sector is the third largest sector in the world with revenues reaching $1.4 trillion generated by 1.138 billion tourists. “We expect the number of tourists around the world to reach 1.8 trillion by the year 2030,” he said.