The tourism sector in Lebanon, especially the hotel industry, has been negatively impacted by the consequences of the conflict in Gaza, particularly the tension on the southern border between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

Usually, during this time of year, tourist reservations in Lebanon become active, coinciding with the holiday season that begins at the beginning of December.

However, hotel reservations have declined since the start of the war in Gaza, reaching 5 to 7 percent, according to President of the Lebanese Hotel Association Pierre Achkar.

The daily escalation in southern Lebanon has had a negative impact on the influx of visitors to restaurants, entertainment venues, and markets. It has also affected the hotel occupancy rate with the absence of incoming visitors from abroad, including expatriates and foreigners.

The tension comes after a summer that saw a tourist movement primarily dependent on Lebanese expatriates, following four years of an unprecedented economic collapse exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Beirut port explosion in the summer of 2020.

There are estimations that if the conflict expands after the events in Gaza, Lebanon will become the number one stage in the unfolding confrontation feared by all, as it may be a case of "damned if you do, damned if you don't."

It is undeniable that many sectors have been directly affected by the security tension in southern Lebanon and the region as a whole.

Foremost among them is tourism, which has become the backbone of the Lebanese economy, pulling it out of the deep economic crisis it had slipped into.

Contrary to statements about the number of tourists who came to Lebanon during the summer, figures from the Ministry of Tourism indicate that the number of visitors and tourists from the beginning of 2023 until the end of September reached 1.4 million, with 863,374 during the summer months (June-September).

The number of tourists until the end of September 2023 increased by 25.3% compared to the previous year, reaching 1,120,927 people. This is a 113% increase compared to 2021 when the number reached 659,030 people, as shown in the table below.

As for hotel occupancy rates in Beirut, they reached their peak in July at 64.6%, indicating that a significant number of "tourists" were Lebanese individuals holding foreign nationalities from European or American countries.

European tourists constitute the largest number of visitors, followed by Arab tourists, and then Americans.

The majority of European and American tourists are Lebanese nationals holding dual citizenships. As for Arab tourists, the overwhelming majority are Iraqis (45%), with numbers from Egyptians (20%) and Jordanians (15%).

It is worth noting that tourist reservations have sharply declined not only in Lebanon but also in Egypt and Jordan since the start of the conflict between Gaza and Israel. Due to geographical proximity, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon share borders with Gaza or Israel or both.

There is also concern that the fighting may spill over into these countries, as seen in Hezbollah attacks on Israeli sites in southern Lebanon and military strikes that "accidentally" hit Egyptian sites on the border with Israel.