Beirut hit by tourism downturn as passenger numbers fall

Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport has suffered a 13.36 percent drop in arrivals during the first quarter of 2011 as compared to the first quarter of last year,according to a report from the Lebanese Tourism Ministry.

The decrease in passenger numbers traffic follows region-wide trends which saw a rapid drop in tourism following the Arab revolts. Cancellations rates for tourism packages neared 50 percent in Jordan and 40 percent in Syria, according to a report by the France International group.

The decline in passenger inflows was in large part due to a significant fall in the number of arrivals from other Arab countries. This March, the number of non-Lebanese Arab arrivals fell by 29.64 percent from March of last year.

The largest group of foreign arrivals at Beirut airport during the first quarter has been non-Arab Asians, namely Iranians, who made up 80 percent of those arrivals. Iranians celebrated the Persian New Year, Nowruz, last month, which, the Ministry said likely accounted for the heightened traffic.

Arabs were the second largest group of foreign arrivals, with Jordanians making up the largest percentage of those passengers at 31 percent. Iraqis and Saudi Arabians ranked second and third, respectively.

Europeans were the third largest group of foreign travelers, with the French the biggest European group to arrive in Beirut.