Lebanon is rich in resources that could be leveraged to extend economic development to all of its regions. Its location, natural and historical treasures, and its cultural richness are spread across the country, and have contributed to making tourism a strategic sector to the economy. Even with the political turbulence in the region and, at times, inside the country, tourism has always exhibited remarkable resilience. But tourism remains concentrated in the capital city, Beirut, and its immediate surroundings, in addition to very few historical sites.

The 'Women Association of Deir El Ahmar - WADA' and the Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung have implemented an eco-tourism project a few years ago to boost the potential of rural tourism in the region of Deir El Ahmar and Baalbeck.

This workshop was a follow up activity to assess the needs and to develop quality standards for rural hospitality businesses. In this regard WADA is looking to register existing guest houses in an official way with the support of the General Security in Lebanon.

Main goals of the workshop were to enable the participants to:

• set strategic areas of intervention to improve the rural tourism sector attractiveness and capacity
• outline the different key actions with recommended actors and linkages across the value chains like tourism, agriculture and food production
• promote and prompt cooperation and common action among all stakeholders and encourage rural tourism actors to develop a shared understanding of rural tourism, to take ownership, and to advocate for the sector