By Veronica Gould Stoddart, USA TODAY
BEIRUT — On a mild Tuesday evening in downtown Beirut, the city’s young and beautiful are bellying up to the hottest night spot, the bohemian Gemmayzeh neighborhood. Model-chic Beiruti women, sporting skinny pants, stiletto boots and cascading tresses, cluster in groups or with dates inside the hip bars, pubs and restaurants that line this milder Middle East version of Bourbon Street.

Not far away, in the Old World-style Albergo boutique hotel, visiting Michelin-starred chefs from France are dishing out meals for a sold-out crowd that takes Beirut’s sophisticated dining scene for granted.

PHOTO GALLERY: Beirut bounces back

During the summer, the trendy flock to swank rooftop clubs — Noir, Sky Bar or White Bar, where Champagne bottle service can run $10,000 — to dance till dawn.

Call it Sex and the City meets South Beach.

Beirut’s sizzling nightlife, from gritty to glam, helped drive a record tourism year in 2009. Overcoming a reputation as a Middle East trouble spot, Lebanon welcomed nearly 2 million visitors last year, a 39% increase over 2008. It was the No. 1 destination for tourism growth in the world, according to the World Tourism Organization.

‘Joie de vivre’ draws Arabs, Westerners

“Lebanon is back,” Nada Sardouk, Lebanon’s tourism director general, told the Middle East news agency AMEInfo.com in December. “We’ve had 80% to 90% hotel occupancy this year. But it’s more than about just numbers. … It’s about the joie de vivre.” Read the rest of this entry »

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