According to the newspaper “Daily Star”, Lebanon expects over 1.3 million tourists this year, thanks to the positive political atmosphere following the election of a new president, outgoing Tourism Minister Joe Sarkis said Friday. The minister made the remarks during a tour of Rafik Hariri International Airport, adding that most of the hotels in Beirut and in the mountains are fully booked.

The minister said that Lebanon is heading towards a promising tourism season, adding that the Tourism Ministry plans to launch widespread media campaign in order to encourage foreigners and Arabs to visit Lebanon."Once a new government is formed, I expect Lebanon to experience a steady rise in the number of visitors," he said.

Sarkis stated earlier that Lebanon could generate more than $3 billion a year if the touristic season went well, emphasizing the importance of compensating for the previously missed opportunities. Moreover, he declared that the ministry has instructed all its staff to handle all the complains coming from tourists arriving to Lebanon and the Ministry of Economy will make sure that restaurants do not randomly raise their prices just to make a quick profit from the visitors.

Finally, the airport authorities said that the bulk of foreign visitors coming to Lebanon are from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.