Spending by visitors to Lebanon dropped by 68 percent in 2020 after tourist numbers fell sharply as the coronavirus pandemic badly hit the industry.
According to figures issued by Global Blue, the VAT refund operator for international shoppers, tourist spending fell by 47 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020, by 98 percent in the second quarter, by 78 percent in the third quarter, and by 33 percent in the fourth quarter of the year.
In addition, tourism receipts decreased by 67.8 percent to $1.3 billion in the first half of 2020, while outbound tourism spending declined by 60.6 billion to $1.1bn in the covered period.
Tourism receipts and outbound tourism spending both dropped to their lowest six-month level on record as net tourism receipts decreased by 83.4 percent to $216.4 million, also a record low.
Visitors from the UAE accounted for 15 percent of total tourist expenditures in 2020, followed by visitors from Saudi Arabia with 9 percent, Egypt with 8 percent; Syria with 7 percent; Kuwait and Qatar with 3 percent each.
Spending by visitors from Kuwait fell more last year by 88 percent while the total number of refund transactions by visitors dropped by 78 percent in 2020.
Beirut attracted 73 percent of aggregate tourism expenditures in 2020, followed by the Metn area with 19 percent, the Baabda district with 4 percent and the Keserwan region with 2 percent. Fashion & clothing accounted for 58 percent of total spending in 2020, followed by watches & jewellery with 26 percent.
Separately, EY’s benchmark survey of the hotel sector in the Middle East indicated that the average occupancy rate at four- and five-star hotels in Beirut was 16 percent in the first 11 months of 2020 compared to 69 percent in the same period of 2019, and compared to an average rate of 37 percent in 14 Arab markets included in the survey.
The occupancy rate at Beirut hotels was the lowest in the region in the covered period, while it was the fifth highest in the first 11 months of 2019.
The average rate per room at Beirut hotels was $165 in the first 11 months of 2020, decreasing by 15.3 percent from $195 in the same period of 2019, the survey also showed.
Revenues per available room (RevPAR) were $27 at Beirut hotels in the first 11 months of 2020 compared to $135 in the same period of 2019, and were the third lowest rate in the region after Madinah($26) and Muscat ($25).
Abu Dhabi posted the highest hotel occupancy rate in the region at 72 percent in the first 11 months of 2020, while Kuwait City registered the highest average rate per room at $207, and Ras Al-Khaimah had the highest RevPAR at $78 in the covered period.
Follow us on
