April 30 - MSC Cruises has announced four Beirut Port calls for upcoming cruises that will increase tourism revenues for the city, it was learnt during a press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beirut on Tuesday. The conference was held to launch Wild Discovery as the cruise liners’ new Lebanon general sales agent. The partnership was announced by Sandro J. Saadé, CEO of Wild Discovery and Achille Staiano, MSC Cruises Commercial Manager International Market.

“Our affiliation with Wild Discovery is a sign of our commitment to Lebanon as a tourist destination,” Staiano said, adding that “our new port calls in Beirut will bring tourism money for taxi drivers, restaurants and [other businesses]. The winter weather in Lebanon is important to our plans as we see it as a place to take passengers and grow our winter economy.”

The partnership, said sources, will prove to be greatly beneficial to the tourism industry in Lebanon since MSC Cruises get about 17 million customers a year. MSC is the world’s fourth-largest cruise company and has to its credit international certification by Bureau Veritas for being the first company to receive “6 Golden Pearls” for environmental care.