The population swells every summer in Lebanon. Beirut International Airport serves as the primary entry point for most visitors. Once in the country, travelers know their way around perfectly and rarely rely on guides or taxis at the exit. The familiar faces who return year after year bring a joy that goes beyond nostalgia, even as the country endures a deep financial crisis and a fragile economy. Between 2.2 million visitors are expected this summer, with the season stretching through October. In cedar country, about 75 percent of the arrivals are Lebanese living abroad, a group that equates to roughly 40 percent of the country’s total population.
For many returnees, the trip is a breath of fresh air spent among family, feasts, and old friends. For others, it serves as a stark reminder of why they left. David Abou Chacra spent most of his life in Lebanon, but in 2006 his family moved to Canada because of the war with Israel. They later returned, yet in 2014 he chose one homeland for his studies over the other, earning a PhD in engineering with a focus on artificial intelligence before returning to visit Lebanon for the first time in four years. He speaks of the visit as a reconnection with a place that has shaped him profoundly.
“A foreign country”
There was a sense of anxiety about the journey before arrival, since conversations with friends and family painted a country that felt foreign to the visitor. The Lebanon he had left behind offered only about two hours of public electricity per day, a currency that had seen steadier days, and a society navigating severe economic stress. Within weeks, however, adjustment set in. The returnee extended the initial stay by ten days and ended up lingering for two and a half months. The house had a new feeling to it, a sense of welcome and belonging.
Murielle el Feghaly approached the trip with clear intentions. She planned to spend the entire three weeks in the homeland, attend two weddings, and be a bridesmaid in one. She joined several social groups, reflecting the vibrant social fabric that many expatriates carry back to Lebanon. In recent years, about 200,000 Lebanese left the country, seeking opportunities abroad. Summers in Lebanon are celebrated for their charm, and she could not imagine spending them anywhere else. While France offered professional paths for some, particularly in medicine, many travelers return with foreign currencies that help support the local economy during Lebanon’s ongoing crisis, one of the most severe global economic collapses in recent history.
Tourism remains one of the few sectors creating employment amid an unemployment rate hovering around thirty percent. In May, the Acting Minister of Tourism projected that the sector would generate up to nine billion dollars in revenue this year, a rise from the six and a half billion dollars recorded last year. This figure would account for a notable portion of the country’s reduced GDP. Expatriates play a major role in this influx. Data from 2022 show that travelers from Lebanon’s diaspora accounted for a majority of arrivals, a share that continued to rise in the first quarter of the current year.
Economic and social bubbles
The reliance on expatriates creates economic bubbles in which locals contend with rising prices, especially for essentials, during the summer season. The Lebanese pound remains scarce, and prices climb while the local currency loses value in daily life. Some observers note a sense of general frustration, tempered by relief at seeing cherished relatives and friends, while the rest of life continues with few changes. The appetite for dollar-based transactions remains strong, with a relatively small portion of families able to access dollars directly, a dynamic noted in recent university studies.
For the returning professionals, the experience can be paradoxical. One engineer described his homecoming as both comforting and complicated, recognizing that one country offered support while another proved challenging. Expatriates describe the diaspora as a blend of emotion and opportunity, a mix that includes both excitement and occasional heartbreak. The ongoing instability, fueled by regional conflicts and an unsettled economy, has propelled Lebanon to host one of the world’s largest expatriate communities. By 2020, the number of Lebanese living abroad was estimated at eight million, roughly twice the number of residents in the country itself. In the wake of the pandemic and the Beirut port explosion on August 4, 2020, many who lived abroad felt a peculiar blend of distance and shared suffering. Returning each summer remains a central pillar of their identity, as Lebanon remains deeply rooted in their sense of belonging.