Lebanon sees large-scale hotel closures outside Beirut

Achkar revealed that there had been widespread closures of 3- and 4-star hotels outside Beirut after their operating rate touched zero, assuring that these hotels would resume their work in the summer.   

He attributed this situation to the decline in the number of tourists, in contrast to the "terrible" increase in the cost of energy for tourism institutions, especially hotels, which ranged between 35 percent and 40 percent of operating expenses, while the international average ranges between 8 percent and 10 percent, which means that tourism institutions in Lebanon pay four times the average cost of energy compared to other institutions around the world.   

He pointed out that "hotels managed during the summer season to achieve financial gain, but the reality of the recession during this period of the year absorbs all those profits, while some hotels began to enter into losses."   

He pointed out that "hotels and all Lebanese tourism institutions have been working for many years to manage the crises that Lebanon is going through more than they are working to promote tourism for themselves and other important details related to their work, and they have become experts in how to manage crises."   

Pierre Achkar expressed concern about the cost of transporting employees of tourism establishments to their workplaces after the significant increase in fuel prices.   

He warned that "the whole situation is challenging, and that continuing in this way will lead the country to the unknown, and a conscience must be awakened to achieve a political solution that saves the country and its people from evil."