Tammam Salam
Michel Pharaon was Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in the governments of Rafic Hariri in 2000, Fouad Siniora in 2005, and Saad Hariri in 2009. In 2014, he became Minister of Tourism under Tammam Salam, and in 2016 Minister of State for Planning Affairs in Saad Hariri’s cabinet. In 2015, he was elected as President of the World Tourism Organization Committeefor the Middle East region, twenty-two countries in all, for a two-year period, in recognition of the sustainable development projects initiated as Minister. These included the launching of the National Rural tourism strategy in Lebanon, the development of the Religious tourism strategy, the Lebanese diaspora tourism promotion program ANA, the Phoenician Road program developed conjointly with the WTO, and the “Live Love Lebanon” campaigns aiming at advancing a positive image of Lebanon internationally, especially amongst the young.