Lebanon’s villages and towns carry stories worth discovering, but also skills, businesses, and local potential that can create opportunities for the people who call these places home.
Built around this vision, the View Lebanon project marked a new milestone at Antonine University (UA), entering a new phase as a community-driven tourism initiative that connects visitors with Lebanon’s cultural heritage, natural landscapes, and local communities. Beyond promoting destinations, the project seeks to empower communities, support small businesses, stimulate regional economic activity, and create employment opportunities rooted in local knowledge and resources.
Held at UA’s Hadat–Baabda Campus, the ceremony celebrated two years of work that transformed the initiative from an idea into a growing network of 100 trained local ambassadors representing 73 Lebanese towns and regions.
Under the patronage of the Ministry of Tourism, View Lebanon is managed by Be Baladi Association in partnership with the Polish Phoenicia Foundation of St. Charbel, with funding from the Development Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland (Polish Aid), and in collaboration with UA and the Lebanese Red Cross (LRC).
The ceremony brought together UA Rector Fr. Michel Saghbiny, a representative of the Ministry of Tourism, diplomatic representatives from Poland, Serbia, Uruguay, Ukraine, the Philippines, Malaysia, Iraq, and Brazil, as well as project partners, municipal leaders, religious and community figures, media professionals, content creators, and local ambassadors.
Hosted by media personality Ms. Yara Dergham, the ceremony featured addresses by project representatives and partners, testimonials from local ambassadors, and the premiere of View Lebanon’s promotional video.
From an Idea to a Network of Local Ambassadors
View Lebanon has steadily evolved since its initial launch in September 2024, when UA joined its partners in introducing an initiative designed to reconnect Lebanese people with their towns and villages, empower local communities, promote regional development, and showcase Lebanon’s heritage and natural wealth.
The collaboration continued through capacity-building and entrepreneurial activities, including an Ideation Day organized by UA and Be Baladi in February 2025, which brought together professionals, entrepreneurs, and innovators to explore sustainable tourism opportunities that could benefit communities across Lebanon.
Throughout this process, UA contributed to developing participants’ skills in management, planning, marketing, and entrepreneurship, helping them approach tourism not only as a cultural experience, but also as a potential driver of sustainable local economic activity.
UA’s Faculty of Sport Sciences also contributed to the initiative through instructors from the University Diploma in Mountain Guide and Outdoor Activities, who shared their professional experience and practical insights with the participants, enriching the exchange around outdoor tourism and responsible guiding practices.
Initiatives of this kind can also open avenues for UA students to connect academic learning with tourism, entrepreneurship, and community-based development, while gaining greater exposure to the needs and opportunities of Lebanon’s regions.
Two years later, the project has trained 100 local ambassadors from 73 towns and regions, provided them with equipment and uniforms, conducted pilot tours, and installed informational signage in participating Lebanese towns.
Putting Knowledge and Expertise at the Service of Communities
In his address, Fr. Saghbiny situated UA’s involvement in View Lebanon within the wider mission inherited from the Antonine Maronite Order, whose presence has historically extended into Lebanon’s rural and peripheral regions.
He explained that this same spirit is reflected in UA’s own presence across different parts of the country and in its commitment to remaining close to the communities it serves. View Lebanon, he stressed, speaks directly to this mission by placing knowledge and expertise at the service of people, strengthening their connection to their land, and helping them build a future within their communities.
Fr. Saghbiny also highlighted the initiative’s tourism, cultural, and economic dimensions. By bringing together local ambassadors, guides, drivers, transportation providers, hotels, restaurants, artisans, small businesses, and other actors, View Lebanon can help generate economic activity and employment while introducing visitors to the history, traditions, daily life, and distinctive character of Lebanon’s regions.
He further emphasized the initiative’s national and youth-centered dimension, underscoring the role of young women and men in building Lebanon’s future and preserving its identity. Drawing on Pope St. John Paul II’s description of Lebanon as a message, he also noted the significance of celebrating the milestone on the anniversary of the Polish Pontiff, who maintained a close concern for Lebanon.
Reaffirming the University’s commitment to the initiative, Fr. Saghbiny emphasized that UA’s support has accompanied the project throughout its development and will continue as it enters its next phase.
Mr. Boulos Sakr, President of Be Baladi Association and Project Manager of View Lebanon, reflected on the project’s evolution from a tourism idea into a broader mission to reconnect Lebanese people with their hometowns, empower local communities, and showcase the country’s natural and cultural heritage.
He stressed that tourism can go beyond economic activity to become a means of empowering people, supporting local economies, creating opportunities, and preserving identity and heritage.
Mr. Sakr also recalled Be Baladi’s earlier collaboration with the Polish Phoenicia Foundation and Youth of Hope (شباب الرجاء) on Ya Aayni Aal Baladi, Lebanon’s first mobile market for agricultural products, paying tribute to the late Mgr Toufic Bou Hadir, whose vision helped shape that initiative.
Mr. Kazimierz Gajowy, President of the Polish Phoenicia Foundation of St. Charbel, reflected on the two years of work that brought View Lebanon to this stage and emphasized the importance of Lebanese–Polish cooperation in supporting Lebanon and creating opportunities for young people.
H.E. Dr. Aleksandra Bukowska-McCabe, Ambassador of Poland to Lebanon, congratulated the project team and its partners, expressing her hope that View Lebanon would contribute to supporting young people and local communities while strengthening tourism across Lebanon.
Telling Lebanon’s Stories Through Its People
At the heart of View Lebanon are the local ambassadors themselves: people whose knowledge of their towns, traditions, and communities allows visitors to experience a place through those who know it best.
During the ceremony, Ms. Denise Tawk, representing Bcharre and the Cedars, and Ms. Mina Jallad, representing Achrafieh, shared their experiences as local ambassadors. They reflected on welcoming visitors, introducing them to their communities, and drawing on their local knowledge to convey the identity, heritage, and stories that give each place its character.
The ceremony also featured the premiere of View Lebanon’s promotional video, filmed across several Lebanese regions to showcase the country’s natural beauty, cultural diversity, and heritage. Directed by Mr. Charbel Kosseifi, the video featured a piano performance and musical rearrangement by Mr. Lucas Sakr, with music production and mixing by Mr. John Paul Jalwan.
Be Baladi also announced the appointment of Ms. Yara Dergham as a View Lebanon Ambassador for 2026 and 2027, recognizing her role in promoting the initiative and introducing wider audiences to Lebanon’s destinations and communities.
A Continued Commitment to Lebanon’s Communities
From supporting the project in its early stages and helping develop participants’ skills to contributing academic and professional expertise, UA’s involvement in View Lebanon reflects a sustained commitment to regional development, community engagement, and knowledge in service of people.
The initiative demonstrates how tourism, when connected to local skills, small businesses, and entrepreneurship, can generate a wider chain of opportunities: supporting employment and regional economic activity, preserving local heritage, and enabling communities and young people to build on the resources and potential of their own regions.
It also contributes to the broader objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, through local economic and employment opportunities; SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, through regional development and heritage preservation; and SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals, through collaboration among academic, public, civil society, and international partners.
As View Lebanon moves into its next phase, its local ambassadors carry more than knowledge of a destination. They carry the stories, identity, and attachment to place that can transform tourism into a more human encounter and, in the Rector’s words, turn love for Lebanon’s towns and villages into work, opportunities, and hope.