The economic crisis is rampant in all sectors without exception, but this fierceness has reached a very large extent on the Lebanese handicraft sector.

More than 50 percent of the shops selling souvenirs, especially tourist ones, closed their doors, as the demand fell terribly, reaching 2 percent.

The owner of a handicraft shop told “Voice of Beirut International” correspondent Ghassan Farran, “Sales have decreased by 98 percent,” adding, “Our fate is complete collapse. For me, I was distributing goods to 200 stores in different regions of Lebanon, and so far 102 stores have been closed.” Pointing out that the price of the materials he uses in his work is determined according to the price of oil, and after the rise in oil prices, the price went up.

Stressing that his work requires the presence of tourists and expatriates, “the Lebanese have no possibility to buy handicrafts, while the foreigner loves to buy souvenirs for his relatives and friends.”

So this sector betrays the stagnation of tourism in Lebanon, to the extent that the people of the country do not care about buying cedar, so did they disbelieve in it after they were tired of the corruption of the country’s authority?