Why Aren’t There Tourists In Tripoli?

Delara Alamedine points out the problem in the Daily Star this morning:

Hind Soufi, the president of Tripoli’s Tourist Association, estimates that only 2 percent of tourists ever make it up to the “northern capital.

The article says the city has a lot to offer, from good food to good Citadels and Mamlouki architecture, but cites problems like the lack of infrastructure and government support as reasons why tourists don’t come.

Since Tripoli is my hometown, let me tell you my theory on why we don’t have tourists. In a nutshell, there are two kinds of tourists: Arabs and Foreigners. The Arabs don’t come to Tripoli because it looks and feels very much like any other Arab city out there. They prefer Beirut which different, more ‘foreign’ and exotic.

Foreigners on the other hand avoid tripoli (with the exception of a few heroic souls who enjoy visiting it) because their state departments and embassies keep warning them that tripoli is very conservative and rife with west-hating islamists. An exaggeration which unfortunately is not completely unfounded.

Don’t let the article fool you though. Many Tripolitans enjoy the fact that they live in a sleepy town, and are discretely happy that we’re off the touristic map.