BEIRUT - The tourism sector in Lebanon has been “unstable” in these last four years, as stated in the last report of the World Tourism Organization (WTO).

In this study entitled “the vision of tourism in 2020”, the WTO indicated that 1 200 000 tourists came to Lebanon during these last four years.

The organization estimates that this number could climb up to 2 million in 2020.

The tourism industry of the Near East should register a growth average of 7.1% during the 1995-2020 period, against an annual growth of 4.1% on an international scale.

However, the report underlined that Lebanon remains way behind other countries of the Near East like Egypt, which should attract the highest number of tourists in 2020, namely around 17 million visitors.

Saudi Arabia will be the country that brings the highest number of tourists on the regional level. As for Lebanon, the Arab citizens will keep on representing half of the country’s visitors.

The report however indicated that the cost of a tourist’s stay in Lebanon is becoming more and more expensive. Most of the hotels located in Beirut and Mount Lebanon are 5 star-hotels and more.

According to the WTO, this situation could be a threat for the tourist sector’s competitiveness in Lebanon compared to the rest of the countries in the region.