Impact of the financial crisis and swine flu outbreak on the tourism industry: Case study of Lebanon

Abstract

Tourism is a leading industry in the services sector at the global level as well as a major provider ofjobs and a significant generator of foreign exchange at the national level. The world Tourism Organization reports that due to the financial crisis in 2009 international tourist arrivals and expenditure declined compared to 2008 by almost 4%. The organization also reports that the swine flu outbreak aggravated the crisis in some areas of the world, particularly the Americas. This thesis explores economic theories and links tourism to economic activity. It also studies the impact of both the financial crisis and the swine flu outbreak on tourist arrivals to Lebanon. The analysis showed that the financial crisis (more specifically the subprime mortgage crisis which started in August 2007) and swine flu outbreak that started in March 2009 had a positive impact on the number of incoming tourists, at the same time the financial crisis had a negative impact on tourism spending per capita.