“The system will be applied starting August,” said Belinda Sfeir, the Marketing Manager at Global Blue in Lebanon.

The new technology will speed up procedures for tourists to get VAT refund cheques from shops or points of sales, by just registering to the system in their passports.

Tourists and visitors can also choose to get reimbursement cheques through using their credit cards and can get their cheques automatically stamped by Customs through a special machine at the airport.

The new electronic system will benefit retailers who can use the system to get all the information they need about tourists electronically, thus speeding the process of issuing of VAT Refund cheques and receipts. 

“Retailers and Custom officials can use the system to keep up to date with information and data related to their work, and use statistical diagrams provided to launch marketing and advertising schemes,” said Marcos Ostlund, the company’s Product Development Manager. 

Lebanon is the second country worldwide to adopt this system after Finland.

“The new technology will add value to the tourism and trade sectors and to the economy as a whole,” said the Minister of Finance, Raya El Hassan who attended the launching ceremony. “It largely coincides with the Ministry’s strategy to computerize all administrative procedures, and make Lebanon enter the era of digital technology.”

“The new system will boost the number of tourists to the country,” and it “will increase the tourist spending,” said El Hassan.

The company has recently rebranded its name to Global Blue from  its earlier name-Global Refund. It offers services to 270 brands, hotels, and retailers in more than 40 countries, and serves over 38,000 travelers.