Analyse of the sector 30/11/2010
Tourism activity to register significant growth

A 5-year plan has been implemented by the Ministry of Tourism to move away from mass tourism and look at promoting and marketing Syria in a more sophisticated way. Although Syria is not as popular as other destinations like Egypt, its emerging travel and tourism industry offers a potentially significant source of foreign exchange and growth. The government is working on making Syria a top international tourist destination by focusing in its distinctive historical and cultural heritage. Home to more than 33 civilizations, Syria has a variety of sites from the Bronze Age through the Greek, Roman and Byzantine eras, as well as remains from an Islamic dynasty.

Since 2008, Syria has witnessed tremendous developments and investments which have led to an increased number of tourists. According to the Ministry of Tourism, Syria experienced growth in areas within the travel and tourism industry in 2009 including employment, revenue, investments and developments. These improvements and further projects, which the country is planning to implement soon, will make Syria one of the world’s top destinations not only for Arab countries but also for Europe, the US and Asia.

 

Bilateral agreements

 

Syria has tended to attract visitors from other parts of the Middle East, but promotional campaigns by the government and tour operators in 2008 targeted other source markets including Asia and Europe. Turkey is an important partner in travel and tourism for Syria. Relations have improved significantly with the two countries having signed deals to foster bilateral tourism and jointly promote the countries as tourist destinations abroad, which means that Turkish and Syrian tour operators are able to sell packages including both countries.

In order to meet international standards, the Ministry of Tourism and the Euro-Mediterranean Union for Restaurants and Tourism Establishments are working together on training programmes within travel and tourism hospitality. In addition, the Austrian Academy will also be cooperating with hotel and travel and tourism centres to provide further training and support for universities in travel and tourism and hotel studies.

 

Growth in domestic and outbound tourism

 

The Syrian government is planning to invest heavily in domestic tourism, especially in city destinations that attract the most travellers such as Latakia, Damascus, Aleppo, Hims and Tartus. Approximately 94% of the investments will be contributed to these cities, while 6% will be allocated to other cities. The Syrian government is focusing on domestic travellers by offering good quality holidays at affordable prices.

Also boosted by recent growth in the economy and the rising numbers of high-income citizens with more available income, Syria’s outbound tourism is growing at an exceptional pace. Representatives from all over the world are interested in developing new international channels and raising the profile of travel and tourism projects in their countries and are becoming more dynamic to increase the number of visitors from Syria.

 

Investments and restoration

 

Syria is becoming a very competitive emerging market attracting a significant number of investors. According to the Syrian Ministry of Tourism, travel and tourism investments in Syria over the last three years have stood at US$4 million; whilst the value of travel and tourism investments already in operation is SYP207 billion and those investments under construction are worth SYP296 billion. These investments have been used to revive travel and tourism and make it a key element in Syria’s economic revenue.

As a result, Syria is developing its own style and position with a number of multibillion Syrian pound projects in the pipeline over the next few years to include the US$1 billion project by the Majid Al Futtaim group to develop a tourist city outside Damascus, a new holiday resort on the Mediterranean coast by real estate company Qatari Diya at a cost of US$350 million, the US$8 billion Snobar project near Latakia and the Antardus project in Tartous, at a cost of nearly US$200 million, which will be managed by the Wahoud group.

In addition, restorations are taking place in Aleppo which is an historical place in Syria where a number of sites and dwellings have been discovered on the side of the Euphrates River.