Tourism in Lebanon

This study explores how the host community of §Lebanon perceives the effects of tourism and how §they react to the globalized, stereotypical and §touristic representations of their land, heritage §and culture. The process is studied from two general§perspectives; the abstract image as portrayed in §tourism brochures and their manifestations at the §lived and crude realities. Lefebvre s spatial triad §was applied as a framework as this gave the §opportunity to study the division of local tourism §players based on the space they occupy in society, §and the symbolic and imaginary nature of spatial §formations. §§Findings came close to several studies on the §effects of tourism that all point to social §differences based on background, education, §perceived costs and benefits of tourism, and §political and demographic position in the society. §Yet, stating this falls short of acknowledging the §difficulty of reaching consensus on what images §represents Lebanon as a tourism destination, and the §contest of power and recognition rooted in the §political situation. The study also draws §implications for marketing and image creation from §the results.