Caretaker Tourism Minister Walid Nassar revealed that 1.35 million travelers, with 30 percent of them being foreigners, had arrived in Lebanon this summer.
The country received the highest number of expatriates since 2018, reviving the tourism, service and restaurant sectors as helping it deal with its severe economic and living crises.
The Ministry of Tourism has sponsored 132 festivals this summer.
Nassar stressed that Lebanon boasts all the elements “that allow us to live in this country, invest in it, and work towards its economic and financial development.”
He emphasized the importance of implementing administrative decentralization to boost investments and development.
“Despite the poor economic and living conditions we are experiencing, from airport, infrastructure, electricity, and telecommunications problems, the Lebanese love life and refuse to give up.”
Meanwhile, caretaker Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamieh stressed on Saturday the need to maintain the electricity supply at Beirut international airport and the capital’s seaport as the country grapples with a stifling energy crisis.