The Israeli war forced most Arab and foreign tourists to flee Lebanon.

BEIRUT — Lebanese hotels were bracing for a flourishing tourist season this year but the blistering Israeli offensive has turned all their dreams into a nightmare.

"We were supposed to have an excellent season," Tarek Ammache, director of operations at Le Meridien Commodore, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Thursday, August 24.

Occupancy in many Lebanese hotels has dropped to zero after Arab and foreign tourists cancelled their reservations or fled the country after the Israeli onslaught.

Ammache said he had been looking forward to 96 percent occupancy in August, peak season when Arab tourists flee the scorching heat in their countries.

Lebanon had been on track to receive a record 1.6 million tourists this year.

At Le Bristol, another luxury hotel in the upscale Hamra district, sales manager Chantal Zammar said visitors from the Gulf had pushed her occupancy to nearly 90 percent on July 10th.

Two days later, Israel launched its wide-scale offensive and everything changed.

"So by the 12th and 13th of July the occupancy dropped down to 15 and 20 percent and everything was cancelled," Zammar said.

"All the tourists were cancelling their reservations and we had to pay them back," he added.

The UN Development Program (UNDP) said Tuesday, August 22, that the Israeli onslaught has brought Lebanon's 15-year economic and development drive to square one.

It estimated that overall Lebanese economic losses from the month-long war totaled "at least 15 billion dollars, if not more."

Lebanese authorities estimated last week that direct structural damage inflicted by the Israeli offensive reached 3.6 billion dollars, including 15,000 housing units, 80 bridges and 94 roads destroyed or damaged.

About 35,000 homes and businesses were destroyed, while a quarter of the country's road bridges or flyovers were shattered, according to the UNDP's initial estimate.

Recovering

Lebanese hotels are now struggling with what the Lebanese tourism minister calls a "disaster" brought by the Israeli aggression.

At the Bristol hotel, occupancy is now at 60 percent, Zammar said, thanks to bookings from journalists who came to cover the Israel war and humanitarian workers who arrived to render assistance.

"We are not making any profit," Zammar said.

In an effort to solicit business, one seaside hotel reporting an occupancy rate of about 20 percent resorted to telephoning prospective clients.

At Le Meridien Commodore, Ammache credits his "very good" occupancy of 72 percent at the end of July to the journalists who return repeatedly to write about Lebanon's cycle of violence.

"Some journalists, it's maybe their third or fourth stay here," he said.

In his six years at the hotel, Ammache has faced a series of crises including the 2003 American invasion of Iraq, and last year's assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, which also led to a temporary drop in tourism arrivals.

Returning

But as soon as the Israeli blitz was brought to a halt under a UN-brokered truce, many Arab visitors tended to quickly return to Lebanon, hotel operators say.

At Le Bristol, Zammar said she has received inquiries from Gulf visitors interested in returning.

AFP correspondents have already observed a few Saudi Arabians in Beirut and some Kuwaitis in Bhamdoun.

Arab tourists account for about 60 percent of Ammache's business at Le Meridien Commodore, with Europeans comprising 20 percent and the rest from Asia, Africa and America.

Winning the European market takes at least two years of peace, he said.

"The problem with this case now, nobody can tell us it's finished," he said, referring to the tenuous ceasefire.

Israel bombed Beirut airport during the war but it has reopened for limited operation.

Lebanese flag carrier Middle East Airlines and Royal Jordanian have been flying passengers to Beirut from Amman.

"You cannot sell your hotel by telling people, 'Come to Jordan to come to Beirut'," complained Ammache.

Lebanon on Wednesday, August 23, proposed tax relief and other measures to help its tourism industry recover from direct and indirect losses.