Tourism workers in Syria are looking forward to revitalizing the sector as spring approaches, anticipating an increase in visits from more Syrian expatriates and refugees.
Despite the lack of activation from the Ministry of Tourism after the formation of the interim Damascus government, the hotel and restaurant sector has witnessed noticeable activity following the regime’s fall, especially in the old Damascus area, which is considered a tourist and archaeological destination. This area hosts a collection of hotels and restaurants that are predominantly characterized by the old Damascene house style, favored by both Arab and foreign tourists.
In the past two months, the number of guests in most hotels has increased, whether they are expatriate Syrians, Arabs, or a small percentage of foreign tourists.
Tony Jbara, the manager of the Antique Khan hotel, told Enab Baladi that most of the guests who frequented the hotel after the regime’s fall have been expatriate Syrians or those coming from other provinces, especially from Idlib, with nearly 40 rooms booked in the past two months.
In recent years, the Antique Khan hotel has welcomed several tour groups from Arab countries such as Lebanon and Iraq, as well as from European countries, according to Jbara.
Enab Baladi contacted the management of the Dama Rose hotel, which clarified that it did not witness visits from Arabs and foreigners for tourism since the regime’s fall. Most of the guests were Syrians coming from Turkey, along with some foreign diplomats and journalists from various Arab or foreign media outlets.
The spring and autumn seasons in Syria usually attract many foreign tourists, who tend to be absent in the summer due to a lack of maritime attractions compared to Turkey or Egypt, and similarly in the winter due to a lack of winter tourism activities like those in Lebanon.
However, this year, a significant influx of Syrians is expected, mainly during the summer holidays, as they have been deprived of visiting their homeland for security reasons under the previous regime.
More than 6.3 million Syrian refugees are registered with the UN Refugee Agency outside of Syria, most of them in neighboring countries.
Wassim al-Bahra, a tourist guide working in Damascus, told Enab Baladi that the tourism sector has maintained indirect communication with the interim government and called for activating the role of the Ministries of Culture and Tourism in the new government, with promises for both ministries to resume their activities in March.
Al-Bahra confirmed that Syria is approaching a significant tourism season with the arrival of spring, expressing optimism based on news he receives from external tourism offices and foreign friends indicating that tourists are very eager to visit and are waiting for the opportunity to revive tourism in Syria.
Varying statistics
The tourism sector has seen a significant decline in the number of foreign tourists, particularly after 2011 with the outbreak of the Syrian revolution. The reasons for this decline are several, primarily the lack of security and the arbitrary measures imposed by the previous regime on the tourism sector regarding facilitation.
According to data from the World Bank, Syria welcomed about 10.9 million visitors in 2010, which fell to 6.4 million visitors in 2011.
Accurate statistics for the period between 2012 and 2015 are lacking, due to the shift to armed conflict.
In recent years, numbers have begun to improve but remain below the figures of 2010, with the number of visitors reaching two million in 2023, according to the Ministry of Tourism.
The decline in tourist numbers has negatively impacted travel agencies that used to organize visits for foreign tourists, with the number of such agencies dropping from between 70 to 80 in 2010 to no more than 12 today, according to tourist guide Waseem al-Bahra.
Many agencies have shifted to working in travel tickets and pilgrimage services, while many offices have closed down.
Challenges faced by the tourism sector
Before the fall of Assad’s regime, the Ministry of Tourism was functioning, but the tourism sector operated sluggishly, facing numerous issues including the lack of optimal prioritization for tourism, according to Waseem al-Bahra, despite Syria being primarily a tourist destination.
Additionally, tourism operations were restricted following the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, and there were practices of arrest against those working in the tourism sector.
Al-Bahra refers to a statistic from the Ministry of Tourism in 2009, when the number of tourists reached around six million, generating revenues of about 5.2 billion dollars, contributing to 11.2% of the GDP.
Therefore, it is considered that the Ministry of Tourism represents a sovereign sector reflecting the state of the economy itself, and reactivating its role is a remedial solution for reviving Syria’s economy during this phase, through the revenues that will benefit the state’s budget.
The Ministries of Tourism and Culture were absent from the ministerial formation of the interim Damascus government, which was commissioned two days after the regime fell on December 8, 2024.
There are studies about merging the Ministries of Tourism and Culture into one ministry, similar to neighboring countries, considering that cultural and tourism products are one.
Al-Bahra believes that this could alleviate some of the previous difficulties in coordination between the two ministries, as merging the ministries under a single empowered minister would facilitate the work of departments related to theaters, arts, antiquities, museums, restaurants, and hotels.