Lebanon’s unprecedented economic and financial crisis has taken a huge toll on the hospitality sector, a mainstay of the Lebanese economy, with hundreds of restaurants closing and hotel occupancy plummeting. The protests were initially ignited by new taxes, but are largely about the three-decades long corruption and mismanagement stemming from the ruling political elite. At a news conference in Beirut on Thursday, Pierre Achkar, president of the Lebanese Hotel Federation for Tourism, said more than 150,000 hotel owners, partners, employees and their families face an imminent threat due to the economic crisis.
