The document discusses the challenges facing tourism competitiveness in Lebanon, categorizing them into inherited, created, supporting, demand, situational conditions, and destination management. It proposes various recommendations to address these issues, including improving protected natural areas, reducing operational costs, enhancing infrastructure, and developing a unique touristic image for Lebanon. The need for decentralized tourism administration and reliable statistics for decision-making is emphasized to better manage local tourism challenges.

1. CHALLENGES
FACING TOURISM
COMPETITIVENESS
IN LEBANON
Mr. Jean Abboud
MEDITOUR 2014
26th November 2014, Barcelona

2. Tourism competitiveness factors
Figure 1: Tourism competitiveness factors
Inherited
resources
Created
resources
Supporting
resources
Destination
management
Demand
conditions
Situational
conditions

3. Challenges facing the inherited
resources
• Limited and insufficient percentage of
protected natural areas, cultural sites, and
number of flora and fauna species
• No sustainable preservation of intangible
cultural heritage such as registration on the
UNESCO list or equivalent registers

4. Recommendations for the inherited
resources
• Increase minimum by twice the percentage
of protected natural areas. Protect
additional cultural sites, flora and fauna
species within 3 years
• Register minimum 3 intangible cultural
heritage on the UNESCO list or equivalent
registers within 5 years

5. Challenges facing the created
resources
• High costs of operations, such as the cost
of raw ingredients and the cost of energy in
touristic establishments and sites
• High seasonality by day of the week, month
of the year and geographical situation

6. Recommendations for the created
resources
• Subsidize the cost of energy end
telecommunications especially for rural
touristic establishments
• Use the latest research findings to limit the
negative impacts of the seasonality, such
as “pop up” touristic infrastructure

7. Challenges facing the supporting
resources
• Limited infrastructure such as rail and sea
transportations, and unsufficient use of IT
• Weak collaboration with the universities for
research programs on tourism strategies

8. Recommendations for the supporting
resources
• Accelerate the rehabilitation of the rail
transport and the development of Jounieh
touristic port. Subsidize the development,
installation and trainings for Property
Operations Systems
• Establish a touristic research committee in
collaboration of the Lebanese university
and private universities offering tourism
diplomas

9. Challenges facing the demand
conditions
• Low awareness and notoriety of the
Lebanese sites and regions individually,
and unclear country image on the
international market
• Undiversified tourist market segments,
highly relying on Gulf tourists and
underestimating the potential of domestic
tourists

10. Recommendations for the demand
conditions
• Build a clear and unique touristic image for
Lebanon. Increase the awareness of the
Lebanese “terroires” individually
• Develop added value touristic products and
services addressed to domestic tourists

11. Challenges facing the situational
conditions
• Political instability, and safety and
security of visitors
• Non-competitive value for money,
specially when applying the purchasing
Power Parity index

12. Recommendations for the situational
conditions
• Establish a crisis prevention and a crisis
management policy
• Applicate the revenue management
techniques when pricing the touristic
products and services considering the
international competition

13. Challenges facing the destination
management
• Centralized tourism administration
resulting in a centralized tourism
infrastructure
• Lack in the accuracy and the
exhaustiveness of tourism statistics,
compromising the decision making
process

14. Recommendations for the destination
management
• Initiate a tourism administration
decentralization, able to deal with the
local challenges, needs and
opportunities
• Found the decision making process on
reliable tourism statistics and forecast, in
order to insure action’s viability

15. THANK YOU