Lebanon: Where the Tourists Include the Lebanese Diaspora
By Sonia Caballero Pradas
Summer is underway in the Middle East and with it, many Lebanese ex-pats living abroad are returning home to visit their beloved ones in a country that is fighting against a political wind and an economic storm.
This tiny country that rests its shores in the Mediterranean Sea is well known for having been exposed to continuous national and regional turbulences. And, in the past years, the internal struggles have led the new Lebanese youth to reconsider their stay in the country they love, but where surviving is becoming harder and harder.
From Instagram: Lebanon Times
On October 17, 2019, the big Lebanese revolution that occurred attempted to stop the unbearable corruption of the Lebanese political leaders, whose terrible administration has reached the collapse of the national bank, the devaluation of the lira to the ground (reaching 1$ to 22,000 Lebanese Lira in comparison to 1,500 lira a year and a half ago) and a dangerous shortage in medicines and gas. In light of this situation, many have left the country and others, less fortunate, congregate under the sun in the gas station’s lines for hours in order to get a quarter of their car’s tank. The petrol subsidy ended, pharmacies are shutting down all over the country because of the impossibility of importing medicine and drugs with the current lira rate and the electricity supplies are being cut almost 100%, thus having the population no other choice than to turn on the private generators for daily domestic power.
Leaving Lebanon and moving to a country where salaries are paid in dollars or euros (called “fresh money”, because it enters the country outside the bank system) seems the only solution for the Lebanese youth to help their parents, many of whom are paid in the absurd old rate very often or cannot access their savings from the bank due to the economic crash. This current situation, links to a history of unsafety and instability, has brought many Lebanese citizens to develop themselves in other regions of the world, like the Gulf countries, Latin America, and the French colonized West Africa, where they keep contributing to shaping the infrastructures and socio-cultural atmosphere. From these areas, the diaspora has been expanding and developing a net of compatriots that have reached a bigger population in, for example, Brazil, where there are around 7 million Brazilian-Lebanese citizens, more than the Lebanese residing in their homeland. The same phenomenon has started in Western African countries such as Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Senegal, which have become new bubbles for Lebanese engineers and health workers escaping unemployment and salaries paid in Lebanese lira.
Now, many of them are spending their vacation in a turbulent Lebanon far away from calmness and peace for its citizens. These new and semi-local visitors are not in Lebanon only to contribute to the touristic sector, such as hotels and beach entertaining, but also to the called “medical tourism”. Medical check-ups and visits to clinics are paid for by the Lebanese coming from abroad, who find cheaper all these services due to the Lebanese lira devaluation. As Doctor of Dental Surgery Ramy Nakhoul states, “August is our crowded month. Most Lebanese living in the Gulf, Canada, Europe, etc. come back home and our clinics are full”. Dr. Nakhoul himself is reconsidering leaving Lebanon for Ivory Coast after the season. Cafes, bars, hotels, and clinics have just opened their doors to the Lebanese diaspora, the main tourist profile in a country that media in many countries has portrayed as dangerous, thus contributing negatively to the tourism sector.
Lebanon is a country that relies mostly on tourism and the recent political events, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, have not played a good role in the attempt to rebuild a country that has been shocked by corruption, revolution, and a tragic explosion. This is why the Lebanese diaspora is the key to revitalize Lebanon and not just economically. The Lebanese who have not been exposed to the trauma of the explosion can support mentally and emotionally their home community, which is struggling with pain, frustration, and depression. While they introduce fresh money in the land, they also bring fresh stories and concerns, anecdotes from far away countries, and smiles that are difficult to find amidst the situation. Rare gems accompanied by economical support.
As many Lebanese citizens state, if all the Lebanese abroad could and wanted to spend their holidays in Lebanon, the economy may be recovered very soon. However, coming back to the country that once you desperately left, is not an easy choice for everyone.
Visit Lebanon: recommendations and places to visit on Instagram