Lebanon shows there’s tourism after trouble

Lebanon's re-emergence as a tourist destination after years of civil war has lessons for Tunisia, writes Alasdair Soussi

Flowers lie in tribute to those killed in a terror attack on tourists on a beach in front of the Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Sousse (EPA/MOHAMED MESSARA)

When the UK government urged its citizens to leave Tunisia in the wake of the Sousse terrorist gun attack in June, it was hard not to feel that another part of the Arab world was heading for pariah status.

It goes without saying that the 38 foreign tourists (including 30 British nationals) who lost their lives on that beach were the chief victims. But, as scenes of eerily deserted sea fronts were broadcast across the globe, the other victims of the atrocity were surely Sousse itself, Tunisia and the wider region.

Sousse introduced tourism to Tunisia. As 92-year-old Mohamed Idriss recounted to the BBC after the attack: "There was nothing in Sousse before tourism was developed. And no one had thought about building hotels … I saw the newspapers writing something about it and I said to myself, 'Why not try this?'" Tunisia opened up to the world and the likes of Sousse went from a sleepy backwater to a Mediterranean resort.

A few years ago, I was fortunate to travel through Tunisia as part of a Unicef delegation visiting outlying towns and villages I barely knew existed. We began in the capital Tunis, once the ancient city of Carthage, and made our way by road to El Kef and Gabes, stopping off to eat barbecued meat at open-air roadside cafes. But I had my eyes fixed firmly on Sousse. My Lebanese father had always told me that it was from there that my own surname had originated and I was keen to get a glimpse of the city and a bit of my own heritage. So, it was sad to learn that Sousse had joined Tunis as the scene of a tourist massacre.

Indeed, some four years after Tunisia’s Arab Spring, events in Sousse and Tunis have done little to breathe confidence into an Arab region. Egypt has always stood tall in terms of tourism but political tumult has forced some visitors to wonder about safety. In Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor and elsewhere, Egypt has always had the blockbuster destinations of the region, the Valley of the Kings inspires awe and in 2010, tourism reached record levels of 14.7 million but fell sharply weeks later as tumult took hold.

But both Egypt and Tunisia's tourism travails pale into insignificance when compared to war-ravaged Syria. The loss of life and the people forced to flee to neighbouring countries all make the Syrian civil war one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory. But Syria is also a nation that has almost disappeared from worldview and public reach.

With its ancient civilisations, Syria was celebrated worldwide for its Crusader castles and old mosques and churches, so much of which has been obliterated.

But perhaps all is not lost. Lebanon’s 15 years of civil strife from 1975 left the country on its knees and with a landscape that had been razed to the ground. But, after an astonishing rebuilding programme, Beirut and surrounding areas rose like the proverbial phoenix and visitors returned in droves.

Therein lies the Arab world’s great hope: the propensity of visitors to forgive and forget. Lebanon’s civil war may have ended 25 years ago but it is hardly a bastion of peace and harmony. Yet, tourists return year after year to visit its historical sites, eat its wonderful food and ski its snow-covered slopes. As Egypt settles, so visitor rates will rise. And, as Tunisia’s latest atrocity fades from memory, so tourists will once again walk the beaches of Sousse.

Alasdair Soussi's new book, In The Shadow Of The Cotton Tree, is out now

On Twitter: @AlasdairSoussi