Expert and Consultant in Sustainable Tourism Development
Pascal Abdallah is an expert and consultant in sustainable tourism development, with 28 years of extensive experience in the sector.
Throughout his career, he has actively shaped Lebanon’s alternative tourism landscape, leading initiatives such as the development of national sustainable tourism plans, ecotourism strategies, destination management projects, quality label schemes, sustainable tourism ethical charters, memorandum of understandings, university diplomas and vocational training programs.
Pascal’s commitment to sustainable practices is evident through the co-foundation and management of many organizations in Lebanon, (The Lebanon Mountain Trail Association (LMTA 2004 – present); Beyond Beirut Association for Sustainable Tourism (BBAST 2011 – 2014); the Union of Sustainable and Ecotourism Institutions in Lebanon (USEIL -2021 – 2024); the Mediterranean Experience of Ecotourism Network (MEET / 2016 – present); the Lebanese Federation of Climbing and Mountaineering (LFCM – 2019 – present); the Conseil National du Tourism au Liban (CNTL / 2022 – present), and his pivotal role in the responsible tourism sector by co-owning and establishing different tour operating companies with different partners (TLB Destinations; Cyclamen Destination Nature; Ibex Ecotourism and Responsible Mobilities), or by founding the first ever guesthouse in Lebanon: Al Rashid Guesthouse back in 1997.
Pascal has contributed his expertise to various USAID and EU-funded projects, serving in capacities such as Grants Implementation consultant, Responsible Tourism trainer, Ecotourism Product Development expert, Destination Management Organization Establishment Consultant, Alternative Lodging Categorization consultant.
His involvement also extends to academic consultancy and teaching, where he has focused and co-wrote curricula for new diplomas in ecotourism practices and mountain guiding, and lectured in responsible tourism marketing, tourism economics, eco-tourism management and planning and heritage) in four universities (USJ 2006 to 2017; La Sagesse 2012 to 2017; MUT 2010 to 2014; Antonine University 2022 – present) in Lebanon.
