Beirut: Two years ago, Lebanon was reeling from a crisis which brought gun battles onto the streets of Beirut, forced its airport to shut, and threatened to pitch the tiny Mediterranean country back into civil war.

Fast forward to 2010: Soaring economic growth, relative calm on its southern border with Israel and a truce between rival politicians have given crisis-ridden Lebanon a window of stability which it is translating into a tourist boom.

Tourism Minister Fadi Aboud said he expects 2.2 million tourists to visit this year, up 25 per cent from last year's record, when the sector contributed a quarter of GDP.

Already Arab Gulf tourists fill the capital's five-star hotels, their gas-guzzling Hummers choke Beirut's narrow streets and their Asian staff struggle to carry dozens of shopping bags emblazoned with the names of top international brands.

Beaches brim with bikini-clad, tanned women and come night-time, clubs host Europe's top DJs who play to audiences of thousands, many of whom are flush with cash from jobs abroad and are happy to spend hundreds of dollars on food, drink and music.

Forty per cent of this year's tourists are expected to be Arabs, another 40 per cent Europeans and the rest from other parts of the world.

"People are in love with this country," Aboud said in an interview last week. "I'm expecting a very, very good summer. Probably the best in our history."

The ever-present threat of war with Israel, which waged a 34-day conflict against Lebanon's Hezbollah in 2006, does little to dent Aboud's enthusiasm. "Certainly, security is very, very important but even after the war, the day the war finished, people started coming back again," he said.

Good growth

Prime Minister Sa'ad Al Hariri's government has also pledged to implement reforms, from privatisation to slashing debt, and the IMF predicts another year of economic growth of eight per cent.

Lebanon's resilience and ability to rebound from crises is what encourages many people to visit and spurs investors to pour millions of dollars in real estate projects, one of the country's biggest money-making sectors.

Just a week after feuding Lebanese leaders sealed a political deal in 2008 to end 18 months of conflict, restaurants had re-opened, hotel bookings soared and tourists replaced gunmen on the streets of Beirut.

Now its skyline is dotted with cranes working to build multi-million dollar skyscrapers and five-star hotels.

The influx of cash is also apparent in lavish schemes. For $250 (Dh918) per person, a crane will lift you and 21 others 50 metres above ground to enjoy dinner while taking in Beirut's sights. Just want to watch the sunset? That'll be $120.

Gordon Campbell Gray, who opened the luxury Le Gray hotel in Beirut's downtown Solidere district late last year, said his occupancy rate was well above 90 per cent.

"Since the day we opened, we've been absolutely packed," he told Reuters at an economic conference.

When he decided four years ago to open the hotel "everyone thought I was crazy, but it's really spectacular.

"It ended up being one of the busiest hotels in our portfolio," he said, adding he was building a beach resort south of Beirut and considering another project in the mountains.