Claire Wrathall
18.11.09

Strolling along the Corniche, which runs along the northernmost stretch of Beirut’s Mediterranean seaboard, on a warm Saturday evening, dodging power walkers, promenaders and soignée women with dogs in their handbags, it was striking how very good-looking so many Beirutis are.

Not perhaps the fishermen hoping to catch supper with a spindly rod balanced on the parapet wall; the narghile (or shisha-pipe) smokers huddled close to their cars from whose radios blasted loud Lebanese pop; or ka’ik vendors, peddling discs of hot bread with fist-sized holes, through which locals thread their arms in order to “wear” them home, like giant bangles.

But many of the women — some in hijabs, a few in sweats, others in Saturday-night best — had the demeanour of models. Even the mothers of children en route to the giant Ferris wheel at Lunapark looked more serene than their western counterparts might in similar circumstances.

This is most likely thanks to cosmetic surgery. Even in these credit-crunched times, Lebanon’s First National Bank is offering loans of up to $5,000 to “cover all your plastic surgery operations”, under the banner “Beauty is no longer a luxury”.

The reason has its roots less in vanity than in Lebanon’s war-torn past. Twenty years ago, when the civil war still raged, 90 per cent of surgeons’ work was reconstructive; today it’s almost all cosmetic.

Three years on from the Israeli bombing of southern Beirut, and despite what the UK’s Foreign Office calls a “fragile” peace and a visible military presence, Lebanon feels reborn.

Take the vibrant pedestrianised downtown district known as Solidère, a risen-from-the-rubble development of offices, shops, bars and cafés, stylistically a little too polished and post-modern, perhaps, but its faux rue-de-Rivoli arcades keep the sun off shoppers concerned for their complexions.

This was the part of town I was staying in, at the city’s smartest, newest hotel, Le Gray, a sophisticated, efficient 87-room boutique that opened on 1 November.

A more stylish alternative to the two InterContinentals on the Corniche — hitherto Beirut’s best hotels — it’s already made the city a more alluring destination for European weekenders.

It’s already so popular with locals that my friends and I in our group couldn’t get a table here for Sunday lunch, neither at its smart sixth-floor restaurant, Indigo — which offers a broadly international menu like its London namesake — nor its buzzy corner café, improbably named Gordon’s (despite a fine range of Lebanese salads) after its proprietor, Gordon Campbell Gray, the hotelier behind London’s One Aldwych and Dukes and Antigua’s Carlisle Bay.

Fortunately, there was space on the roof terrace, alongside its heated mauve-tiled, glass-walled swimming pool, from which on a clear day you can see not just the sea, but snow-capped Mount Lebanon.

Le Gray’s location on Place des Martyrs couldn’t be better, close to the café-encircled Place d’Etoile (they don’t call Beirut the Paris of the East for nothing) and Beirut Souks (more of a mall than a medina).

It’s also convenient for the city’s three main mosques — its proximity to the visible-for-miles 21st-century Mohammed al-Amin mosque ensures you never get lost — and the city’s three cathedrals.

Not that there aren’t myriad secular sights, too, ranging from Roman baths and colonnades to the Sursock Museum of modern Lebanese art (Le Gray, too, has more than 500 contemporary paintings and sculptures), by way of Byzantine mosaic pavements, crumbling Ottoman mansions and the National Museum.

Le Gray is metres from the Quartier des Arts, aka Saifi Village, a redevelopment of the area once bisected by the Green Line, the barricade that divided Muslim west Beirut from the Christian east side during the 15-year civil war that ended in 1990.

Here I found galleries and shops selling jewellery, richly embroidered local fashion (check out the coats in Assyla, on Riadh Sohl Street), carpets and homeware.

On Saturday mornings, Saifi also hosts a terrific farmers’ market, Souk el Tayeb, where locals buy organic veg, aromatic spices, flatbread brushed with herb-infused oils, the deep-fried lozenges of minced lamb and cracked wheat they call kibbeh and exquisite home-made marzipan.

That said, it would be a shame to spoil your appetite for lunch, especially if you’ve booked a table at, say, Casablanca, an old villa on the Corniche with modern interiors, sea views and a menu rich in slightly Asian takes on local fish.

Beirutis dine late, after which the beautiful people gather in the bars of Gemmayzeh, immediately east of Saifi and 10 minutes from Le Gray.

For the moment, the place to be is Myu on rue St-Antoine but next weekend sees the opening of Bar ThreeSixty on top of Le Gray, a glass-walled, blue-lit, lantern-shaped structure with jaw-dropping views. Beirut’s beau monde won’t be long in making it their own.

DETAILS

The flight
BMI flies daily from Heathrow, returns from £429.40, www.flybmi.com

The hotel
Le Gray has doubles from $346.50, www.legray.com

The restaurants
Casablanca Ain el-Mreisseh, Corniche (0011 961 1369 334) Myu Rue St-Antoine (0011 961 334 476)

Tours
Black Tomato offers a Beirut-based four-day package from £1,105pp that can include skiing, from January to March, as well as visits to Baalbek, Byblos and into the Bekaa Valley, www.blacktomato.co.uk, www.lebanon-tourism.gov.lb

BEIRUT: “The only thing I miss about the US is uninterrupted electric current,” says Ali, a 20 year old Lebanese-American English Literature student spending his summer break in Lebanon. “My mother, on the other hand,” he chuckles, shaking his head, “can’t wait to get back.” In one sense Lebanon isn’t a conventional destination for many tourists. Notorious for its political violence and instability, Lebanon has gained, over the years, the reputation of being a fragile country. If that isn’t enough to repel tourists, then the poor public transportation system, the few free public beaches, the severely congested roads with inadequate signage, the power cuts and water shortages are sure to do so.
However, the latest figures have shown that these negative factors don’t seem to be deterring the influx of tourists to Lebanon. There must be strong positive aspects, or else why would people visit a country that can, too often, be a hassle to deal with?
Surely, a diverse cultural heritage and imposing ruins, alongside the natural splendor of its shoreline-to-mountaintop layout represent a handful of offerings for those who vacation here. But the country’s poor infrastructure and steep expenses are a leading drawback for tourism in Lebanon, very often clashing strongly with the visitors’ stay, thus making it a not-so tourist-friendly country.
The tourists who come to Lebanon can generally be grouped into three categories: Arabs [mainly from the Gulf, but also Jordan, Syria and Egypt], Westerners, and members of the Lebanese diaspora, coming back to check up on their families or property in their homeland. The various negative and positive factors of Lebanese tourism ricochet in different ways off these categories.
For Gulf Arabs, the prospect of a cooler climate is a constant draw.
“I love coming here, the weather is very nice compared to the heat back home,” as Nora, an 18-year old Saudi Arabian visiting the country, puts it succinctly.
Needless to say, however, the pleasant climate isn’t the only reason Arabs have been coming in great numbers to the country.
Lebanon is by far the most broadminded and liberal in the region, which surely attracts people from numerous less forward-thinking Middle Eastern countries. Lebanon becomes a sort of haven to those who feel restrained by the limitations of their homelands, be it for legal, social or religious reasons. Alcohol is more readily available, and the night life is constantly booming, meaning that Lebanon is certainly the answer.
This category of tourists is not immune to power cuts and possible water shortages. But many Arabs who come to Lebanon on vacation have the resources for a generator and the majority of problems that can be solved with cash or a credit card.
The conclusion is rather harsh: the more money you have, the more comfortable your stay will be. But the financial cushion supposedly enjoyed by Gulf tourists, for example, has its limits, as 2009 proved.
Not everyone has the patience to deal with the power cuts and water shortages. Nora’s family cut their vacation short because of over seven consecutive hours of power cuts in Aley, much of the food in the fridge went bad.
“The prices of the food are increasing, and the groceries are always going to waste. We were supposed to stay for a month, but we’re leaving two weeks early now because of this electricity problem,” says Nora’s mother.
Throngs of visitors who have their own homes in the Aley-Bhamdoun-Sofar region reportedly cut their stays short due to the water and electricity problems, and added expenses.
Young Westerners, on the other hand, come chiefly to enjoy the summer heat and patry their nights away in Beirut’s famed clubs. Europeans seem particularly keen for a taste of something fresh and original, and non-Arab tourists might be less concerned by the poor electricity situation, not finding it to be an intolerable burden.
“Power cuts not really a problem, just accept them very quickly,” says Rachel, a 23-year old who studied Middle Eastern art in the UK, here for a visit.
But traffic congestion and chaos, coupled with a sometimes confusing road system are obviously hassle for those who are used to a much simpler and clearer way to get around.
“The main problem is navigating [around] Beirut – taxi drivers don’t seem to know any places or even street names, also, [it is] quite difficult to walk because big roads have lots of traffic and bad pavement,” Rachel says.
And when things break down, one positive aspect of the local tourism industry kicks in.
“Everybody is very honest and helpful, generally very pleased to help you enjoy things and give advice and directions. It feels very safe [here], even on my own,” Rachel adds.
The category of Western tourists can also be split into groups – older tourists on packaged tours, where they’re spared the problems with figuring out directions by themselves, and perhaps the hassle of electricity cuts, if they’re in a good hotel.
Meanwhile, the younger, independent tourists might be out for adventure in the first place, meaning that they take the hassles in stride, as “part of the experience.”
“Those who come to Lebanon come looking for an adventure,” says 23-year-old Kenny, who came from Birmingham in England to visit a friend.
“In London, you see the same faces every time, everywhere. After a while, you realize you need to go somewhere completely different and just try new things.”
A third category of tourists covers Diaspora Lebanese, whether they have recently departured, or “long-lost” Lebanese. This group comes back to visit relatives, sightsee, and perhaps check up on business or other interests.
Again, there are sub-divisions involved. Some have a soft spot for the country, ignoring most of the imperfections and perhaps considering it part of the “charm” of Lebanon.
But another group perceives their homeland quite harshly, comparing the services and other aspects to their new countries of residence. The poor road conditions and the incessant power cuts aren’t charming at all to them.
Despite what Diaspora Lebanese might think about the homeland, they’re likely to continue visiting the country, due to family ties or other reasons.
But Westerners and Gulf Arabs might require serious improvements to Lebanon’s tourism industry if their numbers are to become sustainable resources.
A laissez-faire economy might be attractive for some, but Tourism Minister Elie Marouni issued a strong warning to the local industry this summer, urging establishments to avoid overpricing and taking advantage of the country’s guests.
Lebanon’s tourist police do exist, and according to Nada Sardouk, the director general of the Tourism Ministry, they’re “capable of intervening whenever tourists experience problems of any sort, any time of the day or night.”
Aside from the resort town of Bhamdoun, which has its own small tourist police unit, the central authorities’ tourist police are based at the Ministry: 18 civilian “inspectors,” and another 35-40 individuals who are part of the Internal Security Forces. They can be reached by dialing 1785, and these personnel organize patrols around the country.
“They aren’t enough,” says Sardouk, “but they are not working alone. Members of the army and the ISF help them out, but so far, most problems have been minor and well taken care of.”
“We hope to have tourist police personnel at the airport next year, and at the borders,” she adds.
By way of comparison, tourist haven Greece has double Lebanon’s population, but a total of 64 full-fledged Tourist Police stations around the country, a stark reminder of how little tourist infrastructure there is in Lebanon at the moment.

BEIRUT: Lebanon is experiencing an unprecedented tourism boom this summer with a record number of tourists reaching 1,100,000 during the first seven months of 2009 compared to a total of 1,300,000 for the entire year 2008, said Ministry of Tourism General Director Nada Sardouk. “At the beginning of 2009 we expected to end the year with a record number of 2,000,000 tourists which appears to be very possible because until now, we were able to reach the total number we have achieved in all of 2008,” said Sardouk.

The number of incoming tourists to Lebanon totaled 1,085,778 in the first seven months of 2009, constituting an increase of 57.3 percent from 690,180 tourists in the same period last year, as reported by Byblos bank’s weekly report.

Sardouk said that this summer a very small percentage of Lebanese people left the country with huge numbers preferring to spend their summer vacations visiting various Lebanese touristic areas.

“One of the most important indicators for the success of the tourism season this year is the high demand for tours inside the country,” she said.

“Travel agencies reported a very small demand on trips to Sharm el-sheikh and Turkey this summer, and recorded a great demand by Lebanese expatriates and Arabs for trips inside Lebanon,” she added.
According to the Byblos bank report, Arab tourists accounted for 40.9 percent of total visitors and were followed by visitors from Europe with 24.3 percent, Asia with 14.7 percent, America with 13.5 percent, Oceania with 3.6 percent and Africa with 2.2 percent.
The record number of tourists reflected positively on the occupancy rates at Lebanon’s hotels which reached an average of 90 percent during the six months of 2009, according to the president of the Hotelier’s Syndicate, Pierre Ashkar.

“This is the best season in 15 or 20 years and this is due to the stability that the country is witnessing so far,” said Ashkar.

Ashkar believes that the delay in the government formation is not likely to affect the tourism boom which Lebanon is currently experiencing. “We have excellent reservation rates for Eid al-Fitr and the francophone games which are going to take place in September, and we are sure that hotels during Eid al-Adha are going to be fully booked as well,” he said.

However, Ashkar noted that the flow of investment is likely to be affected if the government formation experiences a further delay.
“Projects worth millions of dollars were already put on hold waiting for the new government to be formed,” said Ashkar.

According to the global consulting firm Deloitte Et Touche, Beirut achieved the strongest growth in revenues per available room or revPAR growth, not only in the Middle East, but also worldwide, up a staggering 124.4 percent to $117.