Lebanon expects to receive one million tourists this summer, with 600,000 visitors already arriving in the country, caretaker Tourism Minister Walid Nassar said.
The latest data showed a 77 percent increase in travelers through Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut since the beginning of the year.
Nassar expressed his "optimism about the tourist season," saying in a statement during his participation in the "B Nos Jounieh" festival that over one million tourists are expected to arrive, and hoping for stability.
He said that despite the difficult economic conditions and the scarcity of funds in the municipalities, it is possible through creative ideas to create an atmosphere and restore joy to citizens while reviving the economic cycle.
On the eve of Eid al-Adha, about 30,000 passengers arrive daily through the airport, most Lebanese residents and expatriates.
The number of passengers at the airport in the first week of July increased 44.91 percent, compared to the same period last year, and reached 183,352 passengers.
Lebanon's National News Agency said that at the end of June, the number of passengers arriving through the airport increased during the first half of this year.
About 2,568,797 passengers arrived in Lebanon, compared to 1,444 502 passengers in 2021, which amounts to a 77.83 percent increase and a 113 percent increase over the same period in 2020.
However, the figures showed a decline of about 35 percent from the first half of 2019, when 4,400,523 passengers arrived at the airport.
