Hotels in Beirut have experienced a slump in business of up to 40 per cent. They have been hit by violence spilling over from Syria, and the travel warnings consequently issued by some GCC countries.
The UAE's Foreign Ministry last week advised citizens not to travel to Lebanon after days of clashes in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. Qatar and Bahrain issued similar warnings. Since then, there have also been clashes in Beirut. The violence in Lebanon pits supporters and opponents of the government in neighbouring Syria.
"Especially from June onwards is the season when all of the Arab citizens come to Beirut, so it started affecting and it will affect more in the coming weeks," said Roy Gharios, the director of sales at the Ramada Beirut Downtown.
Business has dropped by about 30 per cent to 40 per cent at the hotel as a direct result of the warnings and violence, he said.
"People who have booked in advance for the summer are a little bit confused whether to come or not," said Mr Gharios. "This is where the cancellations are coming from. The events that were supposed to take place during June, which is the season for events and meetings, people are a little bit worried about doing those meetings."
Mr Gharios said the industry had performed well in the first months of the year, with occupancy above 70 per cent. Occupancy was down to about 50 per cent at the hotel.
Rotana Hotels, which manages three properties in Beirut, has also seen a drop in business.
"We were expecting that now that the summer is coming that things would pick up," said Joseph Coubat, Rotana's area vice president for Lebanon, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Erbil in northern Iraq.
"For the last four months we had great results and people started coming back to Lebanon, whether it was for meetings, corporate, and for leisure. However, the recent incidents have disturbed all this."
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