Sustainable tourism is one important vertical under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8, for achieving decent work and economic growth. While the clock is ticking hazardously for all SDGs across all countries, the barriers are both regional-context specific and structurally high in Lebanon when the country aims at achieving the ninth sub-target of SDG 8, which is to “devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products.” To discuss the sustainable tourism prospects of Lebanon, Executive sat down with Haitham Mattar, the managing director of hotel operator IHG Group (locally carrying the fame of the Intercontinental Phoenicia hotel) in the India, Middle East and Africa (IMEA) region. Mattar is a Lebanese hospitality sector executive who visited Beirut on the occasion of a new hotel brand’s arrival in the heart of the Beirut hotel district.

How are you going to reposition the property that you have opened last November, still during the latest war on Lebanon, and how difficult do you consider the Lebanese tourism market to be?

Like any market around the world, when you have stability and security [you have good operating conditions], and can add to that the natural assets of a destination. As you know, Lebanon is a destination that is very rich in history, culture, and gastronomy, with beautiful natural assets. Also, tourism is not something new to Lebanon.

Indeed, when you look here across the street you see the hotel Phoenicia which has been in relationship with Intercontinental starting over 60 years ago, correct?

We signed the relationship with the Phoenicia in 1961 and now we have added this Voco and very delighted to enter partnership with its owner Hani Sheet. He had a vision for this hotel [formerly Monroe hotel] which had a legacy and traded very well when it was open for many years but he wanted to take it a level up with an international brand.

Voco is a newish brand that is only seven years old but it has accelerated in growth. We have the largest Voco in the world in Saudi Arabia with 4500 keys in Makkah, and we recently opened a Voco in Jeddah with 750 keys. It is an up and coming brand that is liked not only by guests but also by investors, because it offers great returns on investment.

The short brand name with its appellative Latin word origin may enter the memory quickly. But how is the brand positioned in the order of IHG Group brands, vis a vis the Intercontinental and the Crown Plaza brands for example?

It is above Crown Plaza and just below the Intercontinental. It is a five-star brand but it is also young and at the border of a lifestyle hotel. It is not a full lifestyle brand but very close. It is informal. When compared with the Crown Plaza which focuses more on events and some groups, here [at the Voco] you have more individual travelers and families. You also might have small meetings and small groups, unlike the Crown Plaza. It is just below the Intercontinental which is our luxury brand.

I understand that the IHG Group has some 375,000 people in its workforce globally, and some 6,600 hotel properties under operation. How many hotels are based in the region that you oversee?

That is correct. 220 [hotels] and 33,000 employees are in my region, and we have four offices, in Dubai, Delhi, Riyadh, and an office in Johannesburg looking after Africa.

This means your region covers all of Africa, plus the Eastern Mediterranean, plus the Arabian peninsula, plus the Indian subcontinent?

India, Seychelles, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are all in my region, and all of the Middle East and Africa. Those are 42 countries.

If I rank these 42 countries by business volume and by difficulty in terms of managing the market, where would Lebanon emerge?

Let us talk about the ease of doing business. Lebanon is one of the countries where the ease of doing business is somewhat challenging. If you do not have the right connections, it is difficult for you to get a license, especially if you are bringing people to work here from outside the country. But we have seen that in recent years the business environment has been improving very much. And yesterday I met his excellency, President Joseph Aoun of Lebanon. He is clear on his vision in terms of safety and security of the people of the country but also focused on driving the economy. He is also focusing on hospitality and tourism as being drivers of the economy. We talk about the ease of doing business and it is also a key priority for his new team and him to improve the processes of doing business and getting licenses and permits here in Lebanon. He was very optimistic, and we left the meeting feeling very optimistic about the discussion with him and also about the coming summer which he said would be great for tourism in Lebanon. We were very comfortable.

Over the past three decades, Lebanon was a market with two strong seasons, the summer and the year-end holiday seasons. Other times were much weaker and down seasons were difficult to manage. These circumstances were hard for many operators, on top of which there were extreme times in 2021, after one year when the hospitality sector was apparently the hardest hit by the Covid19 pandemic and lockdowns as well as the impacts of the Beirut Blast. The stabilization of this market was challenging even before the weakening of tourism by 32 percent now in 2024. That leads me to ask you how difficult this market is for strategic planning and development?

It is not difficult for strategic planning. In Lebanon you have long stretches of beaches and beautiful mountains, ski resorts, agri-tourism, culture and heritage, so there are great foundations. I do not see any difficulty per se, however, I will tell you what is required to avoid these dips in seasonality that you rightly mentioned. What you need [in tourism] is a 365-day business. You cannot run everywhere at 80 percent occupancy all of the time but if the city can run at 70 to 75 percent occupancy, this is very healthy. We have two busy quarters of the year. The rest of the year will need the efforts of the tourism ministry to thrive through activations and through events. This requires full collaboration between all ministers to make sure that you have the right infrastructure, not just roads and parking, so that participants have a pleasant experience when you have a conference of a reasonable size. Think about it: all of Lebanon has 6,000 hotel rooms, of which 2,000 plus are in Beirut.

What is the market share of IHG Group brands out of this total Lebanese hospitality market with an estimated direct tourism contribution to GDP in the 7 percent range between 2015 and 2020, according to UNWTO data?

We are the largest hotel operator in Lebanon. We have probably more than 50 percent of international brand hotel rooms. If you take the 6,000 rooms in Lebanon, [IHG Group brands] have at least 1,500 rooms.   

And IHG Group has already many years ago divested from hotel ownership into the operator-only model, so all of these hotel rooms are operated under the portfolio of brands, including now Voco, but you don’t have any ownership stakes in these hotels, is that right?

We don’t have any ownership anywhere in the world.

You mentioned your collaboration with investors. How long is the average contract duration under which you operate a property? And regionally, how many Voco hotels are today up and running and how many are in the pipeline?

The minimum is ten years and the average is about 15 years. That is the same also for the Voco brand. Under this brand, we have now 11 Voco hotels operating in the IMEA region and 15 in the development pipeline.

In Voco, you have a brand under expansion. What is your main selling point to investors?

The brand started out as a conversion brand. When a hotel that operates a certain brand is leaving, we come to the owner [of this real estate] with a very efficient conversion plan that allows the owner to save costs on their conversion and [align their property with the international brand]. We offer solutions with Voco to allow the owner to invest into the areas which are most guest-facing. We focus on the impacts on guest experience as a priority. We de-prioritize other areas and we plan [developing these areas] for a future time. So, for example we do a three to five year plan with the owner to convert to a new brand. Plus, [it is an attractive investment] because this brand is an informal brand that targets young business travelers and young families.

While there were a few years in the past twenty years which saw tourism blossom to the point of Beirut being added as destination of cruise liners, there were immediate downsides to the visitor boom, such as food price inflation in the downtown hospitality sector and aggressive hawkers of tourist trap restaurants lining Maarad Street in downtown. You are an expert on sustainable tourism. What would you recommend for ministries of Lebanon, such as the Ministry of Tourism or the Ministry of Economy and any other ministry with a stake in hospitality and economy,  for developing the tourism sector sustainably beyond the seven or eight percent contribution of tourism to GDP that were reported in the latter part of the 2010s? Where would you see the country going in sustainable tourism?

Lebanon is a country that has been deprived of energy for a very long time. I think we have seen a decline in energy supply since the time of the first civil war. Renewable energy will play a key role in Lebanon’s future. No investor wants to put money and continue to pay for diesel and generator. The emissions and the impact on the environment that these generators have, makes it a third world country. Renewable energy is very important for the country to focus on.

Also, when you look at sustainable tourism development, it’s anything that engages the community. When you see countries like Spain and Greece complain about over-tourism, one of the main reasons is that the residents of the country don’t feel the benefit from tourism. They feel that the tourists come and go but only occupy our buses, our streets, our restaurants, giving us traffic and inflation but do not give us benefits. If the communities are engaged and feel that they are being consulted and offered opportunities to contribute to the tourists, whether selling them goods or experiences, the communities and tourism will grow together.

Also, a big trend today is that people are looking for agri-tourism. Lebanon is a country that has a wealth of farms and orchards, whether it is oranges or peaches or apples, and people love to have that experience today. Lebanon must focus on these kinds of experiences that people are yearning for today. They take long trips and travel abroad in order to be able to walk through an orange field or a vineyard. We have vineyards and vineries that have been long established, so I would say the foundation for tourism is there. The biggest need for solution is one, for stability, and two, is for all ministers to come together as one and focus on driving tourism. Then that seven percent [of GDP from tourism] can easily become ten and twelve.

How can you drive tourism when the Ministry of Tourism has a budget that can cover only the salaries of its public servants and keep the lights on at the ministry and depends on the good will of the advertising industry when it comes to producing even a promotional video filled with long-held cliché images? Would you as the largest branded hotel room operator in the country be willing to invest into a promotion campaign for Lebanon as tourism destination?

All our hotels, here or around the world, pay what we call a marketing contribution. This marketing contribution allows us to market a hotel on our channels to our loyal members. We have 140 million loyal members. This is part of what we do to promote our hotels globally. Of course, when the war is there and there is no stability, there is nothing really to promote in Lebanon. We hold back on this. But we are ready to reactivate this [marketing effort] as soon as we feel what we felt today in meeting with the President [Joseph Aoun] who is giving us this confidence. We activate these promotions for our Lebanon hotels again through our hotels globally and through our loyal member and our rewards programs, our website and our applications. We reactivate our Lebanon events.

But that is only one part. You need the destination management and marketing. This is really critical, and unless the two are working together, [it will not function]. I cannot promote the destination; I can promote the hotels [of IHG Group] and the neighborhood but I need help from somebody to promote the destination. So, if the [Ministry of] Tourism has not enough budget, the Middle East Airlines has to come on board. I am sure that they want more capacity on their flights. So if you want to fill your airlift, you must promote the country, you must promote through the destinations and the routes. All together, the eco system can work together. You cannot promote tourism alone or the country. We all have to come together, hospitality, airlines, which are the lifeline of tourism. MEA has a great reputation and good planes, and decent service.

In the past few years, hotels and hospitality operators in Lebanon faced many unexpected financial troubles even in the face of insured business interruption events. Did you face difficulties of managing the cost of the Lebanon operation during recent years?

 Like any other hotel company, we have gone through ups and downs. The hospitality industry has gone through very challenging times, not only in Lebanon but across the world. If you recall the 2008 financial crises, it impacted the whole world and places like Dubai had a major share of impact and losses. But I always say that hospitality is too big to fail and very resilient. People by nature love to travel and by nature always want to reconnect. If you remember how it was said during the Covid [19 pandemic] that [travel] will never happen and we all will be on screens; group travel will never happen again, business travel is gone. But you see immediately after that we are creatures of habit and everybody goes back to their normal life. This is what makes us resilient.

When measured against the SDG 8, achieving sustainable tourism, the sector is globally faced with climate dangers as well as challenges related to migration, trade conflicts, political barriers, etcetera. Many of these barriers are not found in the Middle East region, however.  Is the biggest challenge for tourism in this region the reputation of countries in general terms?

I would say the biggest challenge is stability, all around, not just in Lebanon. Look, Syria is the cornerstone of the region. If anything happens positively in Syria, it will explode outwards, positively. If it is negative and it implodes internally, that still has a negative impact on the entire region. So how Syria will pan out and come to be a real democratic system, will impact the entire region.

This was actually my next question. To go beyond Lebanon, do you still operate the Intercontinental in Damascus?

Not for many years.

But you signed in 2024 for the Holiday Inn in Damascus?

We signed for the Holiday Inn near the central Souq Al Hamidiyeh but the site hasn’t opened yet because of the lack of stability. But I envision that in a democratic Syria, where safety and stability return to the country, [Syrian hospitality will shine as] another country that is very rich in culture, natural assets, and beaches, and that today lacks hotel properties. Even in Damascus you don’t have the [room capacity] and outside, like in the beach cities such as Latakia and historic cities such as Aleppo, there are no hotels.

In the past few decades, development of cross-border tourism in Lebanon was severely hampered by the fact that it was either very difficult or at times impossible to visit nearby countries and so people visiting Lebanon for leisure and cultural travel, were stuck here. Now, with Syria opening up from perspectives of both construction and business but also tourism and hospitality, would you see Lebanon as a base for people from international companies to stay at IHG properties in Beirut and commute to Damascus? Is your Syria development strategy related to the local market in Lebanon? What are you planning for the opening of Syria?

We do not have any plans for Syria yet. The plans will start when you have closure on where Syria is going in terms of governance and when we know for sure that there will be stability in Syria. That is what we wish for, hope for, and pray for. After that, we will seek opportunities in building hotels, as soon as these countries are classified as safe countries and safe business locations.

Some easing of EU sanctions on Syria have been recently announced, especially in areas of transport and energy, so this should be good for you, and I would assume that you have already some connections with investors.  

As soon as the sanctions are [lifted], we will probably be among the first to enter Syria. We have connections with investors and the brands that investors seek. I think everybody is waiting for things to happen. What I imagine is people coming to Lebanon and enjoying Lebanon’s offerings but then to be able to rent a car and drive through to Syria and have the same experience and stay in our hotels as by cross-selling between hotels in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. That could be wonderful. Stability is the key component for tourism. Tourism is a force of good.

So if we look to an optimistic scenario for Syria, how many Voco hotels would I be able to stay at in the Syrian countryside?

I don’t know, hopefully many. But the beauty of having our brands is that once we know that the opportunities are open for us in Syria, we will start a market strategy that allows us to study the entire country and see which of our brands fit where. Then we will seek investors’ interest where we want to go, whether it is a city hotel, budget hotel, or luxury brand, or a resort. In this we work with stakeholders on the ground but also with other investors, which could for example be investors from the [Arabian] Gulf who are interested to build hotels in Syria. 

What is the role of the conference and event business. How are F&B, the food and beverages and events business shaping up when compared with room rentals? Is the mix healthy?

It is more geared towards rooms, se we have more [accommodation] business than F&B because we still need the wedding business to come back and we also still need the catering, the big conferences and events. If you say F&B, it is all of food and beverage and especially banquets. This has not revived so much yet but this hotel [Voco] has done so far two conferences and so I can see that the small to medium event business is coming back. The large events business is still not back.

How can Beirut hotels again attract large conferences, perhaps near-future conferences focused on reconstruction in the Eastern Mediterranean countries, and important events on building a sustainable Syria or potent civil society? How can you help in pulling them into Lebanon instead of seeing events on Lebanon and Syria take place in Cyprus, Dubai, or a European city?

This also needs to be a collaboration between us and the government and the convention center. You need the expo center to be able to bid for some of these conferences, noting that the bidding process for some of these large conferences is such that they are booked already five or ten years in advance. They already go to destinations, so the sooner Lebanon starts to bid for these conference, the sooner we can secure some of them. Here I am talking about events that are city-wide, that fill our hotels as well as anybody else in the city. I see great opportunities and healthy competition for tourism in this city.

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