War And Peace: Beirut´s Boom In Tourism (Good Or Bad?)

I stumbled upon a couple of articles or blog posts in The Gazette this week highlighting Beirut, capital of Lebanon, as a city coming back to life. For the previous 4o-plus many years, this country has noticed some of the worst of times. Located in a precarious geographical place, it has been in the middle and on the sidelines of war.

Nonetheless, as the post mentions, in January 2009, Beirut topped the New York Occasions listing for getaway locations. Through the identical 12 months, Lonely Planet ranked the capital in it´s listing of leading 10 cities for its ¨charm and cultural dynamism.¨ The year 2009 also saw a record two million vacationers, in accordance to The Montreal Gazette. As a end result, it is recommended that the hopes and dreams are high right now for bringing Beirut back to its pre-1970s luster. The London-based, boutique hotel, Le Gray, is merely a single of several that aim to take benefit of the rising tourism. Plans for a 4 Seasons and a Hyatt are underway.

Along with a record quantity of travelers, 2009 was a year of peace for the metropolis that nevertheless has battle wounds from, as current as, 2008. My concerns are: Has peace befallen Beirut simply because of tourism or has tourism improved mainly because it was a time of peace? Are vacationers turning into a lot more fascinated by war, wanting to encounter it firsthand? Or, does the enhance in tourism offer a lot more media focus, as a result a time of tranquility? I know that the similar concerns arose when the Olympics went to Beijing and these are the sorts of concerns we really should keep asking ourselves. Nevertheless, it is the proverbial chicken or the egg.

I suppose with far more people traveling than ever, the grey area of politics, power and peace turn out to be a small additional transparent. The successive question is whether or not our want just to see yet another place will damage our possibility to actually working experience it? The hotels will give jobs, apparently peace, and stimulate the economy. I wonder what comes about to the rest of the country? It´s been a extended-standing, internal debate of my personal: does tourism help or hinder? Potentially, in this situation, tourism assists if it implies people today are risk-free from currently being bombed. However, I still wonder, what are the lengthy-phrase effects of Western-based enterprises that have different outlooks on the way factors ¨ought¨ to be?

A really shut good friend of mine is Lebanese. Her mom and dad reside in Lebanon. I wonder what their thoughts are? I will have to get back to you on this one particular.

By Brit Weaver

TheExpeditioner

About the Writer
britweaver

Toronto born and primarily based, Brit is an avid leisure cyclist, coffee drinker and below-a-tree park-ist. She often finds herself meandering foreign cities searching for street eats to nibble, trees to climb, a patch of grass to sit on, or a smaller bookstore to sift as a result of. You can find her musing lifestyle on her private site, TheBubblesAreDead.wordpress.com.

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