The head of the Syndicate of Tourism and Travel Office Owners in Lebanon, Jean Abboud, announced a sharp decline in tourism sector activity as a result of the current situation, as the decline rate reached about 80%. He explained that the work of tourism and travel offices is currently limited to canceling and amending reservations.
In a statement, Abboud stated that this situation increases the burden on the sector, which is already suffering from the consequences of the successive crises that Lebanon has witnessed, starting with the economic collapse, through the Corona pandemic, and ending with the wars of 2023 and 2024.
He warned that “prolonging the current war may lead to the bankruptcy and closure of a large number of tourism and travel offices, with the resulting loss of hundreds of Lebanese people’s jobs.”
He pointed out that “travel traffic is currently limited mainly to Middle East Airlines, in addition to a very limited number of flights operated by Royal Jordanian Airlines and Turkish Airlines.”
Abboud paid tribute to “Middle East Airlines and its Chairman, Mohammed Al-Hout, for the great efforts they are making to secure the travel of Lebanese to and from Lebanon in light of the difficult circumstances.”
Regarding the impact of current events in the region on global air traffic, Abboud stated that “the sector witnessed widespread turmoil as a result of the significant restrictions imposed on airspace in the Middle East.”
He added, “The closure of parts of the airspace and the disruption of the operations of a number of airline companies prompted travelers to search for safer alternative routes, which led to an increase in the prices of some tickets by about 900%.”
He also pointed out that “some Asian airlines benefited from their ability to operate direct long-distance flights between Europe and Asia without passing through the airspace of the Middle East, at a time when the operations of a number of Gulf airlines were affected by air restrictions.”
Abboud revealed that “the number of canceled flights in the Middle East exceeded 23,000 flights since the outbreak of the war on Iran, out of about 36,000 flights scheduled to and from the region, which led to the loss of about 4.4 million seats for passengers.”
