BEIRUT: Lebanon can increase the value of its rural tourism by a factor of four if the newly adopted strategy is implemented properly, Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon said Tuesday.
“We assure that in five years, rural tourism will become worth 15 to 20 percent, while it currently does not constitute more than 5 percent of the overall tourism in Lebanon,” Pharaon said at the first meeting of the National Committee for the Activation of Rural Tourism in Lebanon, a new workgroup formed to apply a new strategy for this purpose.
“Rural tourism will create job opportunities and will safe-guard the heritage sites in all areas,” he said.
The meeting was attended by MP Serge Torsarkissian and representatives of numerous governmental and private organizations.
Pharaon explained that the sector is “vast,” and includes natural, religious, agricultural and other types of tourism.
“It shines the light on areas outside Beirut, where we have found a potential to develop tourism,” he explained, saying citizens and consumers must be made aware of these locations through better marketing and awareness campaigns.
Director General of the Agriculture Ministry Luis Lahhoud suggested renovating walking paths inside nature reserves and organizing trips for locals and tourists.
He also mentioned “agricultural harvest tourism,” where yearly festivals would be organized in rural villages or towns around the harvest of seasonal fruits and vegetables.
The strategy was announced last August, and comes as the fruit of a project funded by the U.S Agency for International Development.
The initiative comes as Lebanon is suffering a tourism slump, with regional strife and domestic security incidents scaring off many foreign tourists.
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