BEIRUT: Lebanon saw a dramatic decline in tourism throughout 2011 with the number of visitors decreasing by 23.66 percent from 2010 levels, the Tourism Ministry reported Thursday. The ministry said Lebanon received 1,651,051 visitors in 2011, 512,938 less than in 2010.

Tourists from Arab countries topped the list of visitors: Jordan ranked first with 129,640 visitors, while Iraq was in second place with 129,294 tourists, followed by Saudi Arabia with 111,701 visitors.

Tourists from the European Union were ranked second with 485,707 visitors. France topped the list with 128,999 followed by Germany with 68,401 and the U.K. with 22,353 visitors.

Tourists from Asian countries were ranked third with 245,462 visitors, 131,870 of whom came from Iran.

Last month the tourism sector, which has been hit hard by the crisis in neighboring Syria, looked set for a partial rebound after premium hotels were reportedly near full booking levels.

But this did not reflect any significant improvement in the number of tourists, improving by less than two points from a report last September. Back then the Tourism Ministry reported that the number of visitors declined 25 percent for the first nine months of 2011.

In fact, hotel occupancy has fallen sharply, a December report by Ernst & Young said, putting hotel room reservations in Beirut at 28 percent lower than in 2010.