FEATURE-Foreign tourists flock to Syria despite troubles
Sat Jul 16, 2005
By Suleiman al-Khalidi
DAMASCUS, July 17 (Reuters) - Strolling in the narrow lanes of the oldest inhabited city in the world, American tourist David Kummer says he feels safer in its old souks than on the streets of New York.
"It's safer than New York here but Americans are fearful of Arabs, they think they are all terrorists. Most of it is prejudice but I wasn't scared," said Kummer, 55, a teacher at a college in Valhalla, New York state, in the shady courtyard of an old Damascus home.
Kummer is one of thousands of Western travellers alongside Arabs and Iranians -- the mainstay of Syria's tourist arrivals -- now coming in greater numbers to Syria despite an image of a nation caught up in regional conflict.
The United States has described Damascus as a state sponsor of terrorism. Washington has urged Syria to seal its borders with Iraq because it says Islamist militants are crossing the frontier to fight U.S. forces.
Syria dominated Lebanon for three decades, but withdrew its forces from its smaller neighbour in April under intense international pressure following the assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in February.
Despite this, Western tourists travel across a country that boasts one of the world's oldest capitals, Christian and Muslim shrines and traces of civilisation dating back 12,000 years.
"The strongest impact is word of mouth by Europeans who come here and are amazed at what they see and tell others. That's what's bringing them to Syria, not the bad news," said Sharif al-Ferm of travel agency Dawn Tours.
Syria's Tourism Ministry says its figures show a 55 percent rise in package tours of Western tourists coming from mainland Europe in the first five months of 2005 compared to last year.
Westerners, including Americans, now get visas on arrival, a move travel agents and airline executives say has boosted numbers.
Syria's authorities say the prospects are bright for the future and that they are finally succeeding in promoting their country as a safe destination despite what they say is politically inspired publicity that unfairly scares foreigners.
"We are reaching out to markets ... to send a message that Syria is secure and the tourism industry is developed and attractive," Tourism Minister Saadallah Agha al-Qalaa told Reuters.
PILLAR OF ECONOMY
The 24-storey Four Seasons Hotel which towers over the centre of Damascus is by far the biggest investment to upgrade five-star hotels in a city that still suffers a critical shortage of quality accommodation.
Tourism revenues are expected to rise to $2.8 billion in 2005 from $2.2 billion last year. More than 3 million tourists came in 2004 and that number should increase by at least 600,000 this year.
"The recent tourism investments have allowed us to recover the number of tourists in 2004. We couldn't have recovered these figures without this push," said Agha al-Qalaa.
Syria hopes to develop tourism as a pillar of its economy. It is attracting more tourists from neighbouring Mediterranean countries such as Cyprus, Greece and Turkey who come for bargain shopping while Iranians come to visit Shi'ite shrines.
Arab Gulf tourists, who are avoiding neighbouring Beirut after a spate of bombings, are coming to the relative stability of Damascus.
Officials say there are 35,000 to 40,000 hotel rooms across the country and another 10,000 are under construction by investors, including international hotel chains such as the Sheraton.
Another 6,000 hotel beds worth a total $500 million in investments are at the planning stage, they added.
TOURISM HINGES ON PEACE
But while foreign tour operators are showing greater interest and more requests for hotel bookings, their local counterparts say the political climate is still the main hurdle to the country gaining a bigger share of the regional market.
"We have to suffer a lot more to persuade them how much Syria was a safe location and to put it in their programmes while the other states don't do any promotion and get the tourists," said Yoland Chamas, co-owner of Orient Aroma Tours.
"No one is scaring the tourists away from their country like what's happening to us in Syria," she added.
The trickle of Westerners, mainly Germans and French and increasingly more Spaniards and Scandinavians, were a fraction of what Syria could attract with regional peace, industry executives say.
They say prospects of a resumption of the Middle East peace process could change the fortunes of the country's tourism industry.
"If there was peace between us and our neighbours in the region there would be more tourism because the whole area is an ancient living museum and Syria is the jewel," said Yousef Kassis, a tourist handicrafts seller.
"Damascus is the oldest inhabited city. There is no one who would not wish he or she would one day visit this crossroads of of civilisations," Kassis said.
"But politics always spoils a holiday season," he added.
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