According to the Ministry of Tourism, the total number of tourists in Lebanon rose from 345,168 in Q1 2017 to 362,398 in Q1 2018, owing it to the yearly growths recorded in tourist arrivals from Europe and America which together comprised 49.56% of total tourists in Lebanon.
According to a geographic breakdown, the number of tourists from Europe (constituting 35.38% of total tourists) grew by an annual 19.7% to stand at 128,231 by March 2018. In details, French tourists increased by 1.59% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 32,305 and similarly, German tourists rose by a yearly 16.61% to 17,600 by March 2018. Tourists from America (14.17% of total arrivals) also recorded a yearly 9.44% increase to 51,362 tourists by March 2018.
On the contrary, Lebanon witnessed a decrease in the number of arrivals from the Arab countries from 126,525 in Q1 2017 to 117,523 in Q2 2018. This was mainly driven by the 15.34% and 27.73% y-o-y declines in the number of Iraqi and Saudi tourists which stood at 48,754 and 9,837 tourist arrivals, respectively, over the same period. Moreover, Asian tourists decreased by an annual 3.02% to 29,205 by March 2018.
Cumulative Number of Tourist Arrivals in Q1
Source: Ministry of Tourism