Lebanon is experiencing a tourism boom
But it is disconnected from the reality of everyday life
IT COULD be any luxury hotspot on the Mediterranean. The four-hour flight from Dubai, the region’s financial hub, may cost $1,000 each way. Holidaymakers fork out over $450 for hotel rooms, $100 for plates of grilled fish. Day-passes to beach clubs can cost 25% of the locals’ monthly minimum wage, yet the clubs are packed. When a punter called a popular haunt for a last-minute booking in July, the bemused receptionist asked if he meant July 2024.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “The Phoenician problem”
From the August 26th 2023 edition
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