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Abboud threatens to expose malpractice at Beirut airport

01 July 2010

BEIRUT: Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud is frustrated by the incompetency and inefficiency of public departments.

“Eight months after assuming my responsibilities as tourism minister I can honestly say that what I achieved in one week in the private sector, I was not able to accomplish during my entire work at the ministry,” Abboud told the students of the American University for Science and Technology on Wednesday.

He added that work at a government agency was excruciating and efficiency and productivity was almost nonexistent.

“I took a pledge that I would carry out some reforms at Rafik Hariri International Airport concerning tourism at this place because I want it to be the best airport in the world,” Abboud said.

He threatened to expose all the breaches and violations taking place at this airport.

“As a tourism minister I was not able to either control taxis at the airport or make changes and improvements at the entrance. I was not able to ban smoking in the lobbies of the airport,” the minister said.

Many tourists complain that most taxis at the airport overcharge travelers despite many attempts to organize taxis at the airport over the past few years.

Sources said some influential parties refuse to give up their clout at the airport and reject any effort to make changes.

The minister added that Beirut airport was the gateway for the entire world and for this reason the facility should be able to attract tourists and visitors in the proper manner.

Abboud is one of many ministers who confidentially complain about the gross negligence and inefficiency in public departments.

Abboud also said tourism in Lebanon was valued at $8 billion of the total gross domestic product in the country.

Tourism is seen as the backbone of the economy along with banking and other services.

Meanwhile, Michel Habis, aviser to Abboud, said the volume of tourism projects that are being implemented in Lebanon amount to $3 billion.

Habis, who was representing Abboud during Planet Lebanon 2010, gave a detailed presentation on the investment opportunities in the tourism sector in Lebanon. “Religious tourism in Lebanon provides a lot of investment opportunities through the rehabilitation of tourist spots and the creation of an advanced pilgrimage activity,” he said.

He noted that Batroun was the origin of four saints.

“There are also a lot of old mosques in Tripoli and Sidon in addition to other religious sites,” he said.

Habis underlined the importance of encouraging ecotourism through the investment in organized tours inside Lebanon which constitute only 3 percent of the tourism activity in Lebanon.

“In other countries, ecotourism constitutes 70 percent of the tourism activities.”

He said that Lebanon was in need of advanced centers for conventions in order to activate what is known as MICE (The Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions). “We are also trying to boost the medical tourism sector because Lebanon has the means to become one of the most important medical destinations in the region.” – The Daily Star

© Copyright The Daily Star 2010.