by gji02 | Nov 20, 2025 | Dashboard, Uncategorized, Visualization
A personal journey into the places we love, the beauty we overlook, and the opportunities we’re losing
Lebanon is a country overflowing with natural beauty, history, culture, and authentic local experiences. A place where even the smallest town holds a story, a scent of zaatar from a bakery at dawn, the echo of church bells or the call to prayer drifting across the valley, the laughter of families gathered near rivers, old souks, and mountain trails.
These moments stay with us.
They shape who we are.
They remind us of a Lebanon that feels peaceful, grounding, and full of life.
But beneath the familiar hotspots we all rush to, there is a deeper truth, a truth rarely captured in brochures or tourism campaigns.
Many Lebanese towns already hold everything a thriving tourism ecosystem needs… except support.
Growing up here, these towns shaped my identity. Their landscapes, their people, their rhythm, all felt alive.
Yet as I grew older, I began to notice something painful:
The towns we love are often the ones left behind.
Where Beauty Lives but Support Does Not
Before looking at individual towns, I started from a broader question:
Do the regions of Lebanon with high tourism appeal receive the infrastructure support they need?
As Tourism Index shows how naturally attractive or culturally rich a region is, the Infrastructure Capacity refers to the services that allow tourism to function (cafés, restaurants, accommodations, facilities, etc.)
Some towns rise high on the “Tourism Index”, but fall flat on actual investments.
While many regions score well on tourism attractiveness, their infrastructure such roads, accommodations, public spaces, services, and tourism support systems lag far behind, making it difficult for visitors to stay, explore, and contribute economically.
This mismatch isn’t just a technical imbalance. It reflects a deeper, more emotional reality.
Some towns are seen, while others are not.
Some receive attention, while others remain forgotten.
And the ones left behind are not lacking in beauty, they are lacking in support.
Beauty and heritage exist everywhere in Lebanon, yet so much of it continues to wait quietly for the support it deserves.
Each bar represents a town that has natural beauty or cultural heritage, but zero visible tourism development. These are places with stories, landscapes, and identity waiting silently for investment
Over the years some Lebanese towns have received tourism-related initiatives.
But when we look only at towns that already have attractions, a striking pattern appears:
Most of them, despite having natural, cultural, or historical treasures , received no initiatives at all.
No projects, No funding, No development, No strategy, Just silence.
The Hardest Truth: Even the Most Attractive Towns Receive Nothing
Some may argue:
“Maybe those towns don’t have attractions.”
But when we look closely at towns that already possess attractions, the painful truth becomes impossible to deny.
Potential without support becomes a burden. Towns that could thrive remain stuck. Communities that could flourish stay stagnant.
And the tourism narrative becomes narrower, excluding places that rightfully belong in it.
The towns most ready to be activated are often the ones completely overlooked.
3 out of 4 received no support. None.
This is not a coincidence.
It is not a gap.
It is a systemic misalignment between where potential exists and where initiatives are delivered.
These are towns where: visitors already come, landscapes already impress, heritage already exists, infrastructure is partially there. Yet development never reaches them
Looking at the Data as a Lebanese Citizen
When I step back, not as a student, not as an analyst, but as someone who grew up here, the message becomes clear:
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We have so much beauty, but we overlook it.
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We have so much potential, but we do not unlock it.
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We have communities waiting, but no one comes.
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We have foundations ready, but not activated.
The problem is not the towns.
The problem is the absence of action.
Every chart you saw above points to the same conclusion:
Lebanon’s opportunity is not in discovering new places, it is in believing in the ones we already have.
Imagine what would happen if:
Aley’s cafés received marketing and infrastructure upgrades, Akkar’s hiking trails were formalized Byblos’ surrounding villages received preservation grants Hasbaya’s guesthouses were connected to tourism
platforms, Baalbek-Hermel’s rural attractions were promoted, Marjeyoun’s landscapes were protected and activated…
These are not dreams. These are realistic, steps, and now we know exactly where we should begin.
Lebanon does not need to invent new beauty.
It simply needs to believe in the beauty it already has.
The potential is real.
The foundations exist.
The opportunity is now.
What we need… is action.
Let’s stop waiting for “better times.”
by tmt19 | Nov 20, 2025 | Dashboard, Team Project, Visualization
Launching La Table is more than opening a restaurant, it’s making a meaningful, long-term investment. With limited savings, choosing the wrong location would turn a dream into a risk. To avoid guessing, I turned to data.
The goal was simple: find a town in Lebanon where visitors (locals and tourists) already show strong interest, yet the restaurant market remains underserved.
Lebanon’s tourism and investment patterns often move in opposite directions. Some towns attract visitors but receive no development, while others receive projects despite having little demand.
For a new restaurant, this imbalance makes it difficult to know where genuine opportunity lies. I needed a location that is not saturated or speculative, but strategically overlooked.
Step 1: Scanning the Chaos for Opportunity – Lebanon as a whole
(Action for Viewer: use the Establishment Type filter and select Restaurants.)
Focusing on restaurants first, the national view shows two categories:
High-tourism towns with no initiatives (Blue): attractive but saturated with existing restaurants.
Funded towns with low tourism (Orange): received investments but struggle with attracting visitors.
We’re looking for a true blue diamond: a high-potential (human intuition), high-traffic location (tourism index), with unserved demand (number of restaurants, projects initiated).
Step 2: The first zoom – Targeting Zgharta
We must narrow the focus from the whole country to a high-potential region. We start by targeting the beautiful Zgharta District.
Safe option: a district away from saturation (low competition) yet rich in natural beauty and tourism interest (mid to high). It becomes the logical next step for deeper exploration.
(Action for Viewer: Please use the District filter and select Zgharta District.)
Step 3: The second zoom – Finding the Restaurant Gap
One town rises above the rest:
Beit Obeid, Zgharta District
- High tourism demand (index: 9).
- Low supply: few restaurants exist (1 restaurant), minimal competition.
- No recent initiatives, meaning the opportunity remains untouched.
Visitors are already coming, but the market has not responded. This is exactly the type of gap a new restaurant should fill.
In Beit Obeid, high demand, low competition, and authentic natural beauty come together, making it a place where La Table can truly belong and elevate the town’s charm. By moving from a national overview to a focused district analysis, the data revealed a location where potential and opportunity meet.
But beyond numbers, choosing Beit Obeid reflects vision, intuition, and respect for place.
Overall view:
by eak16 | Nov 18, 2025 | Uncategorized
Lebanon’s tourism narrative usually revolves around the familiar coastal belt—Byblos, Batroun, Tyre, and the vibrant towns stretching through Mount Lebanon. These places feel like natural tourism hubs. But when we examine the 2023 tourism data at the governorate level, a surprising picture emerges. Tourism is not distributed where most people assume. Instead, geography creates clear winners, hidden hotspots, and unexpected outliers.
Tourist Activity Across Lebanon’s Governorates (2023)
Geography Shapes Tourism More Than Assumptions
The first visualization maps tourist visits across Lebanon’s governorates . Immediately, one pattern stands out: tourism is unevenly distributed. Some regions attract far more visitors, while others—even major cities—fall behind.
The most surprising insight is that Akkar, Lebanon’s northernmost governorate, records the highest number of tourist visits in 2023 (96). This is unexpected, as Akkar is rarely highlighted in national tourism conversations. The map visually exposes this imbalance, revealing spatial contrasts that would be impossible to spot from numbers alone.
On the other end, Tripoli District shows the lowest number of tourist visits (3), despite being a central cultural hub.
Top and Bottom Governorates by Tourist Visits in 2023
A New Ranking of Tourism Leaders and Laggards
Sorting the governorates brings clarity. The bar chart reveals three distinct tiers:
Top Performers
- Akkar (96 visits)
- Mount Lebanon (69 visits)
- Byblos District (60 visits)
These governorates anchor Lebanon’s tourism activity, with Akkar leading unexpectedly.
The Middle Cluster:
- A large group of governorates falls between 20 and 45 visits.
- This stable, mid-range cluster suggests consistent but modest tourism activity — neither dominant nor negligible.
Lowest Performers:
- Bsharri District
- Hermel District
- Tripoli District (3 visits)
Tripoli’s extremely low number positions it at the very bottom of Lebanon’s tourism landscape.
Putting It Together: A New Perspective on Tourism in Lebanon
When we combine the map and the bar chart, a clear story emerges: Tourism activity is driven by geography, not only by well-known attractions.
These patterns suggest that:
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Regional characteristics shape tourist movement.
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The north may be an untapped tourism zone.
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Urban centers are not guaranteed high tourism activity.
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Some districts may require better promotion or infrastructure.
Conclusion: Recognizing Hidden Tourism Opportunities
Lebanon already has world-class attractions, but the 2023 data reveals that tourist behavior doesn’t always follow conventional assumptions. Akkar’s rise as the top tourism governorate highlights emerging potential in overlooked regions. Meanwhile, Tripoli’s low ranking signals opportunities for investment and strategic development.
Understanding these geographic patterns gives policymakers and tourism planners a clearer foundation for decision-making. Lebanon’s tourism map is changing—and the data provides the first look at where new opportunities are emerging.
