BEIRUT: Saudi Arabia and other Gulf governments have lifted an unofficial ban on travel to Lebanon, boosting prospects for the summer tourism season, Lebanon’s tourism minister told AFP on Thursday.

“There is an implicit normalization,” Michel Pharaon said.

“I’m not putting the words in the mouths of any Saudi officials, but I can tell you that with our meetings, implicitly, yes, if there was a ban, today it is lifted,” he said.

“As it was not an official ban, I would say that it’s a non-official green light.” Since 2012, Gulf states whose citizens used to flock to Lebanon during the summer months have warned their nationals to avoid the country because of security concerns.

With a spate of kidnappings, and then increasing spillover from the war in neighboring Syria, tourists increasingly stayed away, devastating Lebanon’s key tourism sector.