After it was teeming with political and sectarian banners, the Lebanese were surprised that the Rafic Hariri Airport road, located in a Hezbollah-controlled area in Beirut, had replaced its advertising spaces with major addresses promoting tourism in Lebanon.
It was noted that the majority of banners and pictures that were spread along the airport road of Iranian party leaders and officials were removed, on Thursday, and replaced with others symbolizing the beauty of Lebanon, with a phrase directed to the travelers: “Welcome to the look,” which is the beginning of a song by the late artist Sabah.
Welcome pictures of people coming to Lebanon spread on social media platforms, with the beginning of the summer, which represents an important tourist season for the country, and the idea was widely admired on the Internet.
In an exclusive interview with “Sky News Arabia”, the Minister of Tourism in the caretaker government, Walid Nassar, said: “I wished for a while to remove the party pictures and the pictures of the parliamentary elections candidates that were behind us, via the airport, coinciding with the start of the tourist season and the start of the arrival of expatriates and tourists to Lebanon He pointed out that “the response to the idea was quick and took only a few days.”
Nassar added: “I am addressing (Sky News Arabia) to the Arab brothers with an invitation to visit Lebanon, as well as to the Lebanese expatriates and every friend and lover who longs for this country, and these welcome announcements confirm this. The goal of this government since its birth has been to maintain excellent relations with the Arab brothers.”
And the minister continued, “We launched a campaign at the Ministry of Tourism under the title (I miss Lebanon, I miss this summer),” and revealed that “the focus of the advertisements on the airport road is the beginning, to be circulated in 150 sites on Lebanese territory, accompanied by beautiful pictures of the country.”
He said: “The electricity crisis does not mean that Lebanon is no longer beautiful, but rather has the ingredients, capabilities and competencies to provide a decent level of services in tourism and summer.”
Lebanon hopes to have a promising tourist season, as reservations for hotels and restaurants have already begun.
Sources specific to “Sky News Arabia” indicate that Lebanon “will witness a promising summer in terms of tourism,” and it is expected, according to those concerned in this sector, that about 1.3 million people will visit it, most of whom are expatriate citizens in addition to foreigners, which will lead to securing sums of money from hard currency to the country, in a positive step that will reflect on the Lebanese economy in general.