In the wake of surprisingly calm parliamentary elections, Lebanon may be in store for something that hasn’t happened in years: a summer without war or violent convulsion. That would likely mean a flood of tourists and émigrés. Indeed, Tourism Minister Elie Marouni has projected that around 2 million tourists will visit Lebanon in 2009, the bulk of them in the summer months.

And while Lebanon’s economy would clearly benefit from a tourism boom, there’s a downside to the droves of summer vacationers.  Prices for many goods and services will likely skyrocket, and expect massive traffic jams, as the country’s shaky infrastructure can barely cope with the number of people here already, let alone hundreds of thousands more on the road.

To get a sense of what people think of the anticipated invasion, NOW went to trendy Gemmayzeh Street, the hub of Beirut’s nightlife and one of the places to first feel the effects of a tourism boom.

Ronald Chamoun, 39, Deir al-Amar
In regard to tourists in Lebanon it’s a good thing, and I think tourists must come to Lebanon. I hope it lasts a long time as it will help the economy enormously.

Ahmad Abboud, 32, Beirut
This year is better than last year, it’s good, and God willing nothing political will happen to ruin this….Of course, it’s good for the country, especially with the new government that has to prove itself.

Amir Amirja, 21, South Lebanon
This year it’s a very good situation now politically. In previous years we were still feeling the after-affects of the war and the other things that happened, so tourism slowed. Now it’s picking up again.

Raymonde Tueni, 43, Ain Remmaneh
Is it good? Of course, it’s something good. It revitalizes the country, it revitalizes the economy, it revitalizes everything… There’s a lot of shopping that will be done, and everything sells well. Everyone profits and everyone gains. But if those Hezbollah supporters decide to do something, the country will not gain anything.

Samir Ghattas, 58, Mashraa Gharbel
It’s good for the country of course, because it strengthens the economy… Now the prices do go up, but in Lebanon there is no price control anyway; there is nothing for this in the Ministry of Economy and Trade or any other official body.

Nancy Sawaya, 20, Beirut
Tourism is good because for the past few years we didn’t have any tourism in Lebanon, and it’s nice actually because you see Americans and British and all the nationalities here. We usually don’t see all of these people. But traffic is very unhealthy for us, and it’s getting worse and worse.  Tourism is a bad thing in regard to prices. Lebanese people think that if they raise the prices they gain more, but this deters tourists. The tourists know the Lebanese are profiting at their expense.

Maya, 24, Beit Mary
It’s good, because it brings money to the country. The traffic is very bad for us, but in general tourism is a really good thing.

Bob Wehbe, 25, Achrafieh
It’s nice. It brings good money to the country, and in any capital in the world there is traffic. Here it is much worse, because the streets are small, but tourism is nice.

William Khoury, 45, Furn al-Shebbak
It’s not bad; of course it’s good, it makes money for the tourist companies. Small businesses, restaurants and taxis will have a lot of work.

Stephanie Kashar, 24, Beirut
This year is great, and hopefully it will last much longer than we expect… It’s definitely good for the country, especially this year. We’ve been waiting for it, so hopefully it’s going to last…the traffic jams and price increases are not a problem; as long as people come to Lebanon it’s good.

Walid Shaaban*, 35, South Lebanon
I have no opinion…I’ll keep my politics to myself…whatever I say, even if I scream, the country will stay just as it is. In everything, even with tourism, it’s always the same, nothing changes. I’m not gaining anything from it; we’re not living well, and no one is paying attention to us.

* Name has been changed at the person’s request.