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Reviving a Collapsing Country’s Economy Through Cultural Heritage: A Case Study of Tourism in Lebanon

Received: 18 March 2022    Accepted: 7 April 2022    Published: 20 April 2022
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Abstract

As cultural and heritage tourism have proven to be effective tools for economic growth for countries, this research aims to identify whether cultural and heritage tourism have been effective for the revival of tourism in Lebanon. The country witnessed a steep decline in tourism numbers in recent years due to economic instabilities. With the devastating outbreak of COVID-19 tourism in Lebanon came to a halt. This research explores the use of cultural and heritage tourism as a means of tourism revival for Lebanon, and as a solution to the bad economic downfall. This research illustrates how regardless of all turbulence the country has witnessed over the years, tourism in Lebanon is unique as it does not bow down to the pressures of various disruptions. There is, however, a major need for Lebanon to resolve its continuous political conflicts and find a “winning formula” among all political parties in order to grow its economy through cultural tourism while dealing or managing any political turmoil which may sporadically rear its ugly head. Lebanon is also in need to strengthen its cultural connection with other ‘brother’ countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman and learn from the success stories of tourism and cultural heritage development happening there. The research demonstrates an essential necessity for Lebanon to improve and re-store heritage infrastructure in the country. The damage caused by the civil war, Beirut port blast, and poor economic downturn prevented restoration efforts to all heritage sites in Lebanon.

Published in International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management (Volume 6, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijhtm.20220601.11
Page(s) 1-7
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Culture, Cultural Heritage, Heritage, Lebanon, Tourism, Tourism Economy

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  • APA Style

    Ali Abdallah. (2022). Reviving a Collapsing Country’s Economy Through Cultural Heritage: A Case Study of Tourism in Lebanon. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management, 6(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijhtm.20220601.11

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    ACS Style

    Ali Abdallah. Reviving a Collapsing Country’s Economy Through Cultural Heritage: A Case Study of Tourism in Lebanon. Int. J. Hosp. Tour. Manag. 2022, 6(1), 1-7. doi: 10.11648/j.ijhtm.20220601.11

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    AMA Style

    Ali Abdallah. Reviving a Collapsing Country’s Economy Through Cultural Heritage: A Case Study of Tourism in Lebanon. Int J Hosp Tour Manag. 2022;6(1):1-7. doi: 10.11648/j.ijhtm.20220601.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijhtm.20220601.11,
      author = {Ali Abdallah},
      title = {Reviving a Collapsing Country’s Economy Through Cultural Heritage: A Case Study of Tourism in Lebanon},
      journal = {International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management},
      volume = {6},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-7},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijhtm.20220601.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijhtm.20220601.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijhtm.20220601.11},
      abstract = {As cultural and heritage tourism have proven to be effective tools for economic growth for countries, this research aims to identify whether cultural and heritage tourism have been effective for the revival of tourism in Lebanon. The country witnessed a steep decline in tourism numbers in recent years due to economic instabilities. With the devastating outbreak of COVID-19 tourism in Lebanon came to a halt. This research explores the use of cultural and heritage tourism as a means of tourism revival for Lebanon, and as a solution to the bad economic downfall. This research illustrates how regardless of all turbulence the country has witnessed over the years, tourism in Lebanon is unique as it does not bow down to the pressures of various disruptions. There is, however, a major need for Lebanon to resolve its continuous political conflicts and find a “winning formula” among all political parties in order to grow its economy through cultural tourism while dealing or managing any political turmoil which may sporadically rear its ugly head. Lebanon is also in need to strengthen its cultural connection with other ‘brother’ countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman and learn from the success stories of tourism and cultural heritage development happening there. The research demonstrates an essential necessity for Lebanon to improve and re-store heritage infrastructure in the country. The damage caused by the civil war, Beirut port blast, and poor economic downturn prevented restoration efforts to all heritage sites in Lebanon.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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    AU  - Ali Abdallah
    Y1  - 2022/04/20
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijhtm.20220601.11
    T2  - International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management
    JF  - International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management
    JO  - International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management
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    AB  - As cultural and heritage tourism have proven to be effective tools for economic growth for countries, this research aims to identify whether cultural and heritage tourism have been effective for the revival of tourism in Lebanon. The country witnessed a steep decline in tourism numbers in recent years due to economic instabilities. With the devastating outbreak of COVID-19 tourism in Lebanon came to a halt. This research explores the use of cultural and heritage tourism as a means of tourism revival for Lebanon, and as a solution to the bad economic downfall. This research illustrates how regardless of all turbulence the country has witnessed over the years, tourism in Lebanon is unique as it does not bow down to the pressures of various disruptions. There is, however, a major need for Lebanon to resolve its continuous political conflicts and find a “winning formula” among all political parties in order to grow its economy through cultural tourism while dealing or managing any political turmoil which may sporadically rear its ugly head. Lebanon is also in need to strengthen its cultural connection with other ‘brother’ countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman and learn from the success stories of tourism and cultural heritage development happening there. The research demonstrates an essential necessity for Lebanon to improve and re-store heritage infrastructure in the country. The damage caused by the civil war, Beirut port blast, and poor economic downturn prevented restoration efforts to all heritage sites in Lebanon.
    VL  - 6
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Author Information
  • Tourism Management, Al Rayyan International University with the University of Derby, Doha, Qatar

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