As part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). Goal 8 is focused on “Promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”. In the city of Beirut, a group of us within the Lebanese ministry of tourism were teamed up with a group of people from the UN development program, and we were tasked to focus on SDG Goal 8.
We were thinking about a pressing challenge in the situation we are in now: if Lebanon is perceived as a tourist destination. Potential tourists/visitors to Lebanon always have something stopping them from visiting Lebanon, especially those who do not know much about it and have not visited it before.
These perceptions were highly influenced by the way the media portrays Lebanon with all its economic and political instabilities. We questioned what we could do to change this narrative, and how could we shift people’s perceptions of what Lebanon is to influence them to travel to this country full of rich culture and breathtaking landscapes.
The graph above shows the change in Lebanon’s GDP over the years, indicating a sudden fall after 2019. In the economic situation which we are currently in, Lebanon needs something to help revitalize this situation and help it grow again. For that reason, we launched a program to revitalize the Lebanese economy through tourism enhancement.
We analyzed several sources of data and came up with the visualization under. The visualization indicates there is a direct correlation between Lebanon’s GDP and tourism receipts. Up till 2018 and 2019 (shaded 1), we see Lebanon’s GDP and tourism receipts both at their highest points. After those years, we see a sudden drop in 2020 in both indicators (shaded 2).
For this reason, we did the following:
We invited travel bloggers, and social media influencers from around the world and we specifically targeted those with a large amount of following and influence. The goal of this was not to bring them so that they could showcase Lebanon to their following base. The goal behind this was to immerse them in the Lebanese culture and the activities and experiences they will cherish from being in Lebanon. That way, what they share with their audience is authentic, and true to the emotions they felt.
We also targeted other areas of improvement which were important for the success of the project. Those are regarding: infrastructure, marketing, and local community involvement. We coordinated with municipalities, as well as local businesses to ensure that all our key points are addressed to enhance the tourist experience in our country. We think that our concentrated efforts to enhance the tourism experience and actively include local communities are what will be responsible for revitalizing the Lebanese economy in the right direction again. In addition to stimulating the travel and tourism industry, our project will potentially have a positive knock-on effect on the whole economy, generating jobs and encouraging sustainable growth.
Not exclusively to BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), the world economy suffered greatly in the years spanning the COVID pandemic. Even though the pandemic is a subject of the past, its consequences generate a ripple effect perceived until this day, especially in developing countries. #SDG8 #SDG8.1
This issue becomes evident when glancing over the BRICS’ GDP growth per annum alongside that of other economies. Ever since its emergence, the countries comprising the BRICS have shown sustainable growth in their GDP throughout the years. However, in 2019-2020, the BRICS experienced a substantial decrease in their GDP growth, with Brazil reaching a negative GDP growth.
One can expect a decrease in GDP growth given the circumstances of the pandemic. Nonetheless, most countries in the BRICS managed to hold their ground away from the zero mark in GDP growth, while others were not so fortunate. However, what could possibly explain this discrepancy? One of the indicators of healthy GDP growth lies in the amount of export to import ratio, and this was the lens through which the analysis was drawn. The difference between Brazil and China, both developing countries, lies in the ‘what’ is exported. The fact that China exports high-technology products and services, which is not the case in Brazil, is a major contributor to this discrepancy. #SDG 8.0 #SDG81 #SDG8.2
A means to mitigate this predicament is to increase the incentive for developing countries to produce and sell high-technology services or products by means of long-term credit availability and fiscal incentives. In more detail, the promotion of long-term credit is crucial to medium and small-sized exporters as they make up most exporters in developing countries, and to the elimination of long, bureaucratic, and inefficient regulations that deter the entry of new exporters. Lastly, provide fiscal incentives to nurture innovation.
Supporting evidence is found in the fact that countries that provide the greatest credit for the private sector also experience the higher export of technology, and consequently, greater GDP growth per annum.
It is recommended that developing countries establish special economic zones (SEZ) close to industrial or port areas. Like in China, SEZ should offer fiscal incentives, and motivation to innovate, and remain close to the port and the manufacturing regions to speed up the export process with minimal bureaucracy.
