The Impact of Crisis on the Travel Industry in Lebanon

This report investigates the significant impact of crises, particularly economic and political instability, on Lebanon's travel industry. The study begins with an introduction to the concept of crisis and its broad effects, followed by a background on the Lebanese travel sector and its importance to the country's GDP. The problem statement highlights the pressure on the industry to mitigate crisis impacts, leading to research aims focused on understanding the crisis's effects on the travel sector. The report reviews existing literature on the travel industry in Lebanon, its competitive advantages, and the nature of crises faced by the country. The methodology section outlines the research philosophy, design (descriptive), and data collection methods, including both primary and secondary data through surveys and interviews. It also addresses sampling, data analysis techniques (quantitative and qualitative), ethical considerations, and study limitations. The proposed timeline details the stages of research, from topic selection to the final submission. The report aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the challenges and opportunities for Lebanon's travel industry in times of crisis.

Running head: IMPACT OF CRISIS ON TRAVEL INDUSTRY
IMPACT OF CRISIS ON TRAVEL INDUSTRY
Name of Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1IMPACT OF CRISIS ON TRAVEL INDUSTRY
Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................2
Background of study........................................................................................................2
Statement of problem.......................................................................................................3
Research aims and objectives..........................................................................................3
Research questions...........................................................................................................3
Literature review..................................................................................................................3
Travel industry in Lebanon..............................................................................................3
Competitive Advantage of the country........................................................................4
Crisis in Lebanon.............................................................................................................5
Methodology........................................................................................................................5
Research philosophy........................................................................................................5
Research design...............................................................................................................6
Data collection method....................................................................................................6
Sampling method and size...............................................................................................7
Data analysis....................................................................................................................7
Ethical considerations in a research.................................................................................7
Limitations of a study......................................................................................................8
Proposed timeline of study..............................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................9

2IMPACT OF CRISIS ON TRAVEL INDUSTRY

3IMPACT OF CRISIS ON TRAVEL INDUSTRY
Introduction
Crisis refers to events that ultimately lead to situations which have got some major
negative impacts on an individual, group or the community as a whole. Therefore crisis refers to
situation of intense danger when important decision is required to be taken. A crisis therefore
occurs when there is a disruption in the daily activities or the normal activities and therefore it
causes stress in the situation. There can be innumerable reasons for crisis such as extreme
conditions of the environment, medical emergencies, economic crisis, financial crisis, any form
of social crisis or any other types of similar crisis (Simon and Ostrom 1989). In case of these
types of crisis in a country, the citizens may have to suffer from different issues such as lack of
liquidity, inability to pay debts, asset price may decline, the value of their currency may fall and
various other similar issues occur. Moreover crisis also has a major impact on different
operations of a country or different sectors of the country such as the banking industry, the travel
industry, agricultural industry, retail industry and others.
Background of study
Past study has been conducted in order to understand the impact of crisis in Lebanon on
the travel industry. One such study has been done by Levent Altinay and Ina Aurelia Issa in
order to understand the impact of political instability on travel and tourism industry in Lebanon
(Issa and Altinay 2006). The study was carried out to understand the way the political instability
has a major impact on the travel and tourism industry and the way the countries deal with the
situation in order to develop travel and tourism. Further the past research has also aimed at
understanding the way crisis management can help in development of travel and tourism.

4IMPACT OF CRISIS ON TRAVEL INDUSTRY
Statement of problem
In recent times, crisis in the country has become a common phenomenon and moreover it
also has an impact on different industry operations within the country. Therefore there is a huge
pressure on the country to reduce the impact of the crisis within the country on the operations of
different industries.
Research aims and objectives
The main aim of the study is to understand the way a Lebanon’s crisis is affecting its
travel industry.
The research objectives are:
i. To understand about the travel industry of Lebanon
ii. To understand about the crisis being faced by Lebanon
iii. To understand the way the crisis of a country affects its travel industry
Research questions
i. What can be said about the travel industry of Lebanon?
ii. What is the crisis being faced by Lebanon?
iii. What are the ways in which the crisis of a country affects its travel industry?
Literature review
Travel industry in Lebanon
The travel and tourism sector of Lebanon has been the main source of employment and
income of the country traditionally. It has also been one of the leading economic sectors of
Lebanon. The travel and tourism sector contributes for about 19.1% of the GDP of the country as

5IMPACT OF CRISIS ON TRAVEL INDUSTRY
of 2018. This sector is seeing a continuous increase in its capital investment that is also expected
to increase in the next 10 years and become 1.7 Billion USD (investinlebanon.gov.lb 2020). This
industry is amongst the largest sectors of the country. The tourists arrival at this location is
equivalent to 1.9 million. Moreover the spending of tourism has also increased in the country.
Competitive Advantage of the country
A heritage with rich religion and culture:
Lebanon is like by its tourists because of wide range of cultural options of tourism that
also includes the Heritage sites of UNESCO. The country hosts a number of entertainment
festivals and international music events featuring both the world acclaimed artists and local
artists. It is also known as one of the pilgrimage destinations throughput the worlds (Hall 2010).
Leisure attraction:
Lebanon supports leisure tourism over other types of tourism. Moreover Lebanon is
known for its nightlife that caters for a variety of taste and also provides for gastronomy.
Natural heritage:
The location of the country provides a number of advantages to the country such as the
Mediterranean coastline, gateways of sun and beach, ski resorts and provides opportunity for a
number of winter sports.
Moreover the country also enjoys the market opportunities of accommodation
establishments, various convention and business centres, food and beverage and also medical
tourism.

6IMPACT OF CRISIS ON TRAVEL INDUSTRY
Crisis in Lebanon
Lebanon is a middle income state of Middle East that is politically troubled and it is
presently in the middle of a deep political and financial crisis. Banks have closed down and
therefore depositors are finding it difficult to get the dollar balances. Although the capital control
has not been introduced officially, the banks have started conserving the capital and liquidity by
determining the level of amount that can be withdrawn from them or that can be transferred
abroad. Moreover the scarcity of dollar has led to a premium of cash dollars over the exchange
rates. Moreover this crisis in the country is leading to endangered access to the health care,
because the public officials and the practitioners have warned the hospitals that they will not be
able to provide surgery or provide medical care in times of emergency (Jallat and Shultz 2011).
This is so because the government has failed to provide funds to the public and private hospitals
also including the funds of the National social security and funds for military health. And
therefore due to this financial crisis the citizens of Lebanon are being denied their basic rights
and their human rights making them vulnerable to different kinds of dangerous events. Moreover
women in Lebanon who have led the protests face discrimination under the law of Lebanon.
They are excluded from various laws and are therefore prone to abuse and different types of
exploitation.
Methodology
Research philosophy
The research philosophy discusses about the way in which the data collection will be
done, the way it will be analysed and the way it will be used in the research paper. Research
philosophy can be of 3 main types- positivism, realism and interpretivism. Realism includes the

7IMPACT OF CRISIS ON TRAVEL INDUSTRY
portrayal of the world from real senses. Interpretivism refers to interpretations made from a
particular study and therefore this method adds a sense of human interest to the study and
interpretations. Moreover positivism refers to gaining knowledge through some scientific
experiments such as statistics and experiments. Therefore for the purpose of this study the
positivism approach will be used as the two other philosophies are dependent upon human beings
and therefore perceptions of human beings may change.
Research design
Research design refers to all those techniques and methods that have been used for the
purpose of research. The three main types of research design includes- exploratory, experimental
and descriptive research design (Bordens and Abbott 2002). The exploratory research design is
used to provide an explanation of the problem and to familiarise the researcher with the problem
and on the other hand the descriptive research design is used to describe a problem and to
identify its solution. Further the experimental research design is used for the purpose of
understanding the cause and effect relationship. The research design that will be used for the
purpose of this study is descriptive research design.
Data collection method
Data collection refers to gathering of necessary data that will further be analysed for
drawing interpretations from them and for converting them into information. Both primary and
secondary data will be used for the purpose of this study. Primary data includes the data that is
directly collected by the researcher for the first time and it is collected through surveys,
interviews and questionnaires and other face to face techniques. On the other hand the primary
data is the ones that is already existing or published in website or any other printed form.

8IMPACT OF CRISIS ON TRAVEL INDUSTRY
Sampling method and size
Sampling method includes drawing samples from asset of population (Cochran 2007).
Both probability and non-probability sampling technique is going to be used for the purpose of
this study. Moreover the simple random sampling technique will be used for the paper such that
a better understanding of the topic can be got. For the purpose of this study, about 100
employees of the travel and tourism industry will be asked to participate in survey and about 20
government officials will be interviewed for the purpose of the study.
Data analysis
Data analysis refers to the use of different tool and techniques for the purpose of
evaluating the data. In order to analyse the quantitative data that will be collected through
surveys and questionnaire the data will be converted into percentage and values and the will be
used for the purpose of data comparison (Thorne 2000). Further they will be converted into
pictorial and graphical presentation for the same purpose. On the other hand, for evaluating the
qualitative data a thematic approach will be used. The qualitative information that will be
gathered through interviews will be written with the help of different themes.
Ethical considerations in a research
A number of ethical guidelines needs to followed while preparing the research paper. For
instance in order to collect the primary data, participants should not be forced to take part in the
survey and moreover they should participate voluntarily through proper consent (Gajjar 2013).
This will help to ensure that the participants are willingly taking part in the survey. Moreover the
survey paper that will be distributed should not be having any form of signs or symbols of the
company in order to make sure that it is not making any form of advertisements. For the purpose
of ensuring that ethical guidelines have been maintained while collecting secondary data also, it

9IMPACT OF CRISIS ON TRAVEL INDUSTRY
becomes necessary to ensure that there is no plagiarism and for this purpose the data also needs
to be cited.
Limitations of a study
While carrying out any types of research, there may be a lot of limitations irrespective of
its planning (Connelly 2013). For instance, the time limit will always be issues with the research
paper and therefore in this paper also there may be limitation of time. Further resources
availability always remains a problem. Therefore there may be chances of resources remaining
inaccessible or unavailable. However the research paper should be planned in a proper way.
Proposed timeline of study
Activities 1st
to 3rd
Week
4th
to 10th
week
11t
h to
13th
Week
14t
h to
17th
Week
18th
to 21st
Week
22
nd to
23rd
Week
24th
Week
Selection of the topic 
Data collection  
Creating layout 
Literature review   
Data analysis and
interpretation
  
Findings of the data  
Conclusion 
Formation of draft  

10IMPACT OF CRISIS ON TRAVEL INDUSTRY
Submission of final
work


11IMPACT OF CRISIS ON TRAVEL INDUSTRY
References
Bordens, K.S. and Abbott, B.B., 2002. Research design and methods: A process
approach.McGraw-Hill.
Cochran, W.G., 2007. Sampling techniques. John Wiley & Sons.
Connelly, L.M., 2013. Limitation section. Medsurg Nursing, 22(5), p.325.
Gajjar, D., 2013. Ethical consideration in research. Education, 2(7).
Hall, C.M., 2010. Crisis events in tourism: subjects of crisis in tourism. Current issues in
Tourism, 13(5), pp.401-417.
investinlebanon.gov.lb (2020). [online] Available at:
https://investinlebanon.gov.lb/en/sectors_in_focus/tourism [Accessed 11 Feb. 2020].
Issa, I.A. and Altinay, L., 2006. Impacts of political instability on tourism planning and
development: The case of Lebanon. Tourism Economics, 12(3), pp.361-381.
Jallat, F. and Shultz, C.J., 2011. Lebanon: From cataclysm to opportunity—Crisis management
lessons for MNCs in the tourism sector of the Middle East. Journal of World Business, 46(4),
pp.476-486.
Simon, D.M. and Ostrom Jr, C.W., 1989. The impact of televised speeches and foreign travel on
presidential approval. Public Opinion Quarterly, 53(1), pp.58-82.
Thorne, S., 2000. Data analysis in qualitative research. Evidence-based nursing, 3(3), pp.68-70.