The Beirut city hall is decorated with Lebanese flags on the Independence Day in Beirut, Lebanon, Nov. 22. 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Zongya)
by Dana Halawi
BEIRUT, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Hotels in Beirut registered a 70 percent occupancy for the Christmas and New Year holiday season, a much better performance than the past three months, but still lags behind the pre-crisis level.
The occupancy stands at 70 percent for the period extending from Dec. 22 to Jan. 2 compared to 35 percent in the past three months, Pierre Ashkar, head of the Syndicate of Hotel Owners in Lebanon, told Xinhua.
Most of the demand came from Egyptian and Iraqi tourists, as well as Lebanese expatriates, and hotels in popular snow destinations such as Faqra, Cedars, Faraya, and Kfardebian registered high occupancy rates, said Ashkar.
However, hotel owners still hope to restore the full occupancy status as it was before the financial crisis hit Lebanon in 2019, Ashkar said.
Buildings and roads are covered with snow in the Cedars tourist area in Bsharri of the North Governorate, Lebanon, on Feb. 21, 2021. (Photo by Khaled/Xinhua)
Lebanon's hotels used to experience years of prosperity, registering full occupancy in the festive season of Christmas and New Year. But the nationwide protests that erupted in the country on Oct. 17, 2019, caused by a steep financial crisis, weighed heavily on the tourism sector, one of the main pillars of the Lebanese economy.
The situation is exacerbated by the outbreak of COVID-19 and the explosions that hit the Beirut port and destroyed a big part of the city, causing complete paralysis in the sector.
Mona Moussa, the owner of Legend Hotel, a three-star hotel in Beirut, said one of the reasons for the less-than-ideal occupancy rate was that people had saved their travel budgets to visit Qatar and watch the World Cup 2022.
She also mentioned that before the crisis, her hotel also used to host a large number of Iraqis who came to Lebanon for medical treatment, a service that has become limited following the outflow of doctors in light of the country's economic and financial crisis.
Ayman Nasreddine, an operation manager at Hotel Le Cavalier, a four stars hotel in Beirut, said the high cost of electricity, a major problem facing all hotels in Lebanon, is making it harder for these establishments to cover their expenses.
Ashkar stressed the need to find a solution for the electricity problem, which causes "a disaster" not only for tourism, but other various sectors as well. ■
