Lebanon received 1.9 million tourists in 2009, and the tourism sector generated seven billion dollars in revenues for the same year, according to numbers released by the Ministry of Tourism.
 

Syria followed Lebanon in terms of the growth in tourist arrival numbers at 10.4 percent, and then came Morocco at seven percent, UNWTO’s report titled “International Tourism on Track for a Rebound after an Exceptionally Challenging 2009” showed.

In terms of hotel occupancy levels in Mideast hotels, Beirut registered the highest growth in occupancy rates for the year 2009, showed a recent study by Ernst & Young. Occupancy rates at hotels in Beirut reached 73 percent, up 18 percent from 2008.

Jeddah was the only other Arab city to witness a rise in occupancy rates in 2009- by only one percent, the E&Y study showed.

The 73 percent occupancy rate witnessed in Beirut hotels was the fourth highest amongst hotels in Middle Eastern markets. Hotels in Jeddah and Dubai achieved the same occupancy levels as in Beirut-hotels (73 percent) while only three Mideast hotels preceded - Abu Dhabi Hotels (at 75 percent), Al-Ghardaka hotels (at 77 percent), and Charm El Sheikh hotels (at 79 percent).

Hotels in Beirut also witnessed the highest growth in terms of average room rate prices in 2009. Average room rate prices were up 26.7 percent in 2009 to reach $234.

Revenue per available room increased to $172 in 2009, up $69 from 2008, ranking Beirut-hotels in third place after Abu Dhabi ($193), Dubai ($170), and Muscat ($156).

Hoteliers in Beirut thus enjoyed a good season despite the decline in International tourist arrivals by four percent in 2009 to 880 million detected by UNTWO. Tourist arrivals to the Middle East dropped six percent for the same year, the agency said.

2010 will witness a better tourism season, according to UNTWO’s forecasts. “International tourist arrivals will grow from three and four percent in 2010 boosted by the encouraging steep rise in the UNWTO Panel of Experts’ Confidence Index for 2010,” the agency said.