Lebanon Eateries Need to Live up to Tourist Expectations

Who doesn’t like to go out for a long Sunday drive to a new place, far away, tucked amidst the high mountains and the trees or nestled in some rocky coastal cove or by a frothy river bank, to go on an adventure, discover something new, maybe even a special gem, have good food with good friends? We all do! It’s exciting and exhilarating, something we look forward to all week… except when it’s disappointing.

To all destination eateries in Lebanon, hear me, I write what I write today because I care about your businesses, about our tourism sector, and I care about our country and its economic future. You have people coming to you from all across the globe, expat Lebanese, foreign nationals from every corner of the globe, all because they heard of your place, saw your amazingly inviting advert online and were lured by the beautiful marketing language and when planning their next trip to Lebanon they included your place as a must see, must go to place on their itinerary. Most people come for a week or two in the summer and have little time for disappointment, so I urge you all to reexamine your business models, the quality and variety of your offerings, customer care, the professionalism of your wait staff, the skill of your chef. As business owners, be more hands on, taste the food occasionally. I reside in Lebanon, so a disappointing experience at a local eatery is frustrating, but it’s not much of an inconvenience simply because I have the whole summer to visit more places and better eateries, not so the tourist who comes with high expectations only to readjust and lower those expectations significantly.

It has happened to me twice over the past two years, you go to a place, its new, its good, great view, staff are very welcoming, food is good, prepared with care, the same care your grandmother would take in cooking for you. Fantastic! Then, you go back a month or six months later, the food is less well prepared, less care is taken, staff are not quite so attentive, easily distracted, less well trained, you wait longer for your food, sometimes its barely edible. Same place, only difference is the passage of time. I know aging is a devastating process, but still! 

I know the cost pressures are oppressive: to get good staff, to keep them happy, give them adequate training, make sure they live close by to service your business on time every day, ensuring suppliers supply you with quality ingredients every day, not second rate off cuts, making sure your chef is qualified, is on board with your business strategy and is happy with his pay and benefits and not looking elsewhere for a better opportunity, all of these are tough to juggle and manage, added to which the tedium and time consuming process of going through proper channels to get licenses and permits. All of this and more makes me never want to go in to the food service sector, but to those who have chosen this path, your guests must never see or sense the behind the scenes daily battles you fight to keep your heads above water and no element of service or quality must suffer as a result of this struggle or under the guise of controlling costs. Golden rule of business: If you can’t do it well don’t do it at all, if you can’t afford to stay open, don’t, or reexamine your business model, open a less ambitious business project.

I really feel for this country’s tourism sector, we have beautiful locales and amazing natural vistas, but so often poorly maintained roads make the experience of getting to destinations frustrating and energy sapping. Poorly maintained infrastructure at destination, poorly paid and poorly motivated staff and guides turn what should be a carefree experience into a frustrating one. Usually, the further away from the center (Beirut and Mount Lebanon) a destination is, the less well developed the roads and transport infrastructure, the less attention is paid by the central government, the worse the management of public services by local authorities. This makes getting to these remarkable destinations so difficult, as a result few take the risk and instead opt to stay close to the urbanised center, which is a real shame. 

There is so much to see in Lebanon, so many amazing places to visit, we need to make the experience of getting there and the experience once we get there so much better. Surely, we can do better. Our country deserves better!