BEIRUT, 7 October 2005 — The number of Saudi tourists to Lebanon dropped this year by 25 percent compared to last year, according to Nada Sardook, the director general at the Ministry of Tourism in Lebanon.
Speaking to Arab News at the opening of the Arab World Travel and Tourism Exhibition (AWTTE 2005) recently, she said: “Last year around 300,000 tourists visited Lebanon from Saudi Arabia, but till the end of August this year, around 225,000 visited — that is 25 percent less than last year.”
She attributed this to the instable political situation in Lebanon following the assassination of Rafik Hariri. However, she sounded optimistic saying “the year is still not over and by the end of the year we will hopefully have the same number of tourists like the previous year”.
The AWTTE, which continued for four days, was organized by the Lebanon’s Ministry of Tourism.
