The Figures released by the Ministry of Tourism pointed to a growth of 27% in the sectors activity during the first half of 2010.
In fact, total number of tourists arriving to Lebanon soared to 964,067 during the first six months of this year versus 761,415 during the same period of last year. This year-on-year progress sustains the significant rise in overall tourism activity throughout the year 2009, resulting from the stable political situation. Moreover, the number of tourists that visited the country in the first six months of 2010 reached a record high when compared to the same period of previous years. The distribution of tourists by origin in the first six months of 2010 indicates that the majority of visitors were from Arab countries with 40% of aggregate visitors, followed by visitors from Europe with 24%, visitors from Asia with 19%, visitors from the Americas with 12%, visitors from Oceania with 3%, and visitors from Africa with 2%. In terms of individual countries, Jordan accounted for the majority of visitors in the first six months of 2010 with 131,181 (14% of the total), followed by Iran with 116,412 (12%), then Saudi Arabia with 72,080 (7%), the United States of America and France with a corresponding 58,430 and 58,014 (6% each), and those of Iraq and Kuwait with a respective 48,052 and 44,007 (5% each). It is worth noting that total tourists from Turkey increased substantially to attain 16,197 (2%) subsequent to the cancellation of visa requirements for Turkish citizens visiting Lebanon. |
