Travelers at Beirut International Airport in January 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine)
BEIRUT — The Association of Travel and Tourism Agents (ATTAL) warned about the existence of "fake, unlicensed offices that carry out fraudulent operations on people wishing to travel or take tourist trips abroad," according to the state-run National News Agency.
The association also called on Monday all those wishing to travel "to deal with licensed companies, especially those affiliated with the syndicate and advertised on the association’s website to avoid the dangers of this issue, to preserve their money and to prevent wasting their time."
It is not clear what ATTAL exactly meant by "fraudulent operations" carried out by "unlicensed offices" as the association did not describe these operations in its statement.
L'Orient Today does not know how many people are using travel platforms instead of "licensed companies" and how much "unlicensed offices" are economically impacting the companies promoted by ATTAL.
L'Orient Today attempted to contact ATTAL to comment but the latter was not immediately available for comment.
On March 1, Lebanon's General Security warned Lebanese citizens against buying travel tickets from the online travel agency website Kiwi.com, which it claims is based in Israel.
ATTAL praised the General Security's warning on Monday, saying that the latter is protecting the Lebanese people from "acts of fraud and deception," especially regarding travel tickets.