Lebanon Says 2009 Was Best on Record for Tourism

Tourists visit the temple of Bacchus at the Roman acropolis in the historical city of Baalbeck in...

Tourists visit the temple of Bacchus at the Roman acropolis in the historical city of Baalbeck in the Bekaa valley in this file photo. Thousands of Lebanese and other visitors are flocking back to Beirut this summer, packing nightclubs, beaches and restaurants in a country that just months ago stood on the brink of civil war.

(HASSAN AMMAR/AFP/Getty Images)

The Tourism Ministry says about 1.9 million tourists came to Lebanon in 2009, the highest number of visitors to come to the mountainous Arab nation ever.

The new figure exceeds those from the time before Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war, when Beirut was dubbed the "Paris of the Middle East."

Related

In Times of Conflict, Beirut's Night Lights

World's Top 'No Go' Destinations

Where Daring Tourists Go: Afghanistan

Figures released this week show that 1,851,081 tourists visited Lebanon in 2009, a 39 percent increase from the previous year. The 2009 number is the highest ever and broke the 1974 record of 1.4 million tourists, the ministry reported.

Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud estimated the country's annual income from tourism at up to $7 billion, or about 20 percent of gross domestic product.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.