Brummana is a small town in Lebanon located around 10 miles outside Beirut. Pierre Achkar, mayor of the town has come up with the weirdest idea after dressing all of its female traffic police in short shorts just to attract more western tourists.
He said: "We in Lebanon want to change the bleak picture of Lebanon in the West. Ninety-nine percent of the tourists in the Mediterranean region wear shorts. People in the West don’t visit Lebanon because they think it’s a country of Islamic extremism.
We want to show that we have the same way of life as the West. You wear shorts and we wear shorts. We have democracy. Our women are free.” explains Mr Achkar.The mayor’s stunt has caused a stir and split opinion. Some are pleased, but others say it exposes the young women to sexual harassment and asking why only women being forced to wear the shorts, while males are still allowed to wear trousers.
The female police officer who is affected by this regulation admitted they feel sad and they cannot disobey the rule, but hoped it was only temporary. Lebanon’s tourism industry, a mainstay of the struggling economy, badly needs a boost.
The war next door in Syria, political turmoil, terrorism and anger at Iran’s rising influence in the country mean fewer tourists are coming. Hot pants will not a good idea to bring tourist back.
News source: ruptly.com