Lebanese Tourism – Summer 2021 Edition: The country’s palliative amidst its crises?

Opinion Analysis by Zeina Dagher, Featured Writer

Lebanon’s tourism sector has always been credited with keeping the country’s economy afloat knowing that the industrial sector is quasi-absent. In the midst of the worsening economic crisis Lebanon is going through, and after all the restrictions that the pandemic had imposed on Lebanese businesses, there’s no doubt that this sector took a hard blow. But can we say that summer 2021’s tourist activity will bring them, and the economy in general, some relief? On one hand, the Lebanese pound is at an all-time low, which is extremely attractive for foreigners. But on the other hand, there’s the risk of growing civil and political strife as shortages abound. Not to mention the recent violent outburst of israel and the overall unsteady regional situation that could easily dissuade tourists from spending their summer here and strike one of Lebanon’s only chances of temporarily readdressing its economy…