“Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities”. Following the UNWTO sustainable tourism understanding “Sustainable tourism development Rural Tourism Strategy for Lebanon requires the informed participation of all relevant stakeholders, as well as strong political leadership to ensure wide participation and consensus building.”
Goal: “Rural communities expand their income by receiving more visitors and by offering more competitive tourism products, services and experiences to tourists while preserving their natural environment and cultural heritage”.
As quoted from the rural tourism strategy, the guiding principles revolve around:
• Improved conservation of natural, historical and
• Cooperation among all actors in rural tourism: local communities, civil society, donors, decision makers, service providers, and other stakeholders in the tourism sector and in other sectors that can support the development of rural tourism such as environment, investments and finance, transportation, and others.
The long term expected general outcomes are:
• Increased awareness on rural tourism destina-
tions, products and services in Lebanon with consistent and professional presentation of the sector among Lebanese and diaspora markets cultural heritage at the level of local communities and enhanced policies and procedures that promote sustainable tourism practices
• Improved regulations, legislation and procedures that enhance the work of rural tourism providers and encourage rural tourism ventures and investments
Improved quality of visitor experience in rural • Coherence and complementarity of projects and •areas of Lebanon initiatives and building on already existing projects and programs and established structures.
• Promoting protection and conservation and build-
ing on protected areas and zones (himas), and parks initiatives.
• Increased tourism expenditures in rural areas through longer stays and higher spending per capita
• Improved economic development and job creation across local communities
• Strengthening the participatory approach and • Improved quality and professionalism of service involvement of local communities at destinations and work towards inclusive growth of all businesses involved in the sector, making sure that investments end up benefiting entire communities.
providers
• Improved common action and cooperation among rural tourism stakeholders
The strategy sets its vision, goal, and strategic directions as follows:
Lebanese regions and rural areas are destinations that can offer a variety of attractions to diverse markets, and Lebanon can offer differentiated travel experiences. Lebanon has to conserve and differentiate its assets in order to stand out in the competitive market for rural tourism. Within the current security situation, the strategy concentrates on the domestic and diaspora market. The strategy suggests 8 strategic directions:
Vision: “Rural areas and regions beyond the capital city Beirut and major urban areas are more successful sustainable destinations for travel including cultural, historical, religious, culinary, nature, sports, agricultural and adventure tourism”.
Strategic Direction 1. Develop and improve marketing and promotion to increase consumer awareness and the visibility of rural tourism destinations, products and services domestically and internationally
• Strengthening mutual benefits and sound and fair funding opportunities among stakeholders.
• Adapting and developing context-oriented actions specific to Lebanon that respect the uniqueness of communities, regions or clusters.
BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
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