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No future for Syria's tourism industry

No future for Syria's tourism industry
Author: Beni Ndongala
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Tourism has become a major economic activity and one of the fastest growing industries in the 21st century; in fact in 2011 the travel and tourism industry's direct contribution to the World's GDP was 2.8% and the number of people directly employed by the industry was estimated to 98 million. The tourism industry alone contributed to 5% of Syria's economy and also directly supported 270.000 jobs. Despite the strength of tourism's economy, this industry is known to be very vulnerable; issues related to political instability, war, terrorism and natural disaster present serious risks for a nation's tourism industry. The regions of Middle East and North Africa became very popular tourism destinations for the past few years; unfortunately most nations in these regions, including Syria have recently experience some kind of political instability, civil war which has caused the tourism industry to become very silent. This paper discusses how the civil war in Syria has affected its tourism industry, and also evaluates the future of Syria as a tourism destination.


Syria has been rated one of the top tourist destinations for religious, culture and heritage holidays, and a paradise for archeologist thanks oldest inhabited cities Damascus and Aleppo, and its ancient sites, which became UNESCO's World Heritage.
Syria's tourism industry which was improve every year, started to decline following the unrest in January 2011, which turned into a real political crisis in March 2011 until present. It should be noted that technology development have facilitated the flow of information, and also political instability which attract the attention of the media negatively influence tourist's decision making on holiday destination. The image of Syria switched from a beautiful religious, culture and heritage holiday destination, and a paradise for archaeologist to a bloody battlefield, consequently the country has experienced a remarkable drop in inbound tourists and most embassy are advertising the country as a danger zone, high risk area. The money generated by the tourism sector plummeted approximately 76% and tourism jobs declined by two thirds since the revolution began. The scarcity of international tourists led to less than 2% of accommodation occupancy in some places; in fact the majority of people occupying accommodations are believed to be local people who have been made homeless because of the disaster. Recognising the importance of the tourism industry on the national economy, accommodation provider and airline companies, such as the Syrian airline introduce fantastic offers to boost the tourism sector; unfortunately the image of the country was already destroyed to the point that even free ticket to the country would not attract more that 5% of tourists.
Not only the tourism industry felt the pressure of the political crisis but also the petroleum sector which experienced a reduction of 6000 tons of the oil export in the first quarter of 2012. It should be noted that wherever health and safety issues occur, it generates both direct and indirect impacts on the tourism industry; the travel industry and transport sector rely on petrol to operate, the rise of oil import which causes the oil price to rise constituted more pressure on organisations mentioned above to operate, on the other hand the reduction of oil export has caused the economy to fall as this last generates a third of Syria's revenue. Overall investment in Syria has also experienced a fall of 85% since the beginning of the political crisis in March 2011.
The destruction of world heritage and visitor attraction remains one of the highest impacts. Ancient sites such as the 11th century minaret mosque in Aleppo, Aleppo commercial hub, the 12th century Ummayyad mosque, the world's best-preserved Crusader castles, Crac des Chevaliers, and also Damascus and Aleppo which are known as the oldest inhabited cities were all destroyed, I must emphasize here that Syria became a popular holiday destination because of it ancient sites which disappeared all during the civil.
The big question is "now that all these precious sites and cities are destroyed, what is it left to make this country a popular tourist destination?"
Syria was considered as a must visit destinations because of its ancient sites, religious sites, Damascus and Aleppo, and since these sites and cities are no longer available or recognisable, this will impede Syria's tourism sector to operates, however if really seek this sector to remain active perhaps a new type of tourism should be develop, and why not Dark Tourism?


The case study on Syria civil war and civil war has made clear that political instability affects the tourism industry. The media development has made information's flow very easy, and because of this, the image of Syria has completely change to a bloody battlefield and no tourists is tempted to visit this city which heretofore was perceived as a paradise on earth for some. Since the civil war began, the inbound tourism flow felt by two thirds, and so for the petroleum sector. No ancient sites to visit present a big threat for Syria tourism industry unless a new type of tourism is develop such as dark tourism, however there is no evidence that this will be successful because of lack of uniqueness





Reference list

Al Arayiba news (2013) conflict decimates Syria tourism: official report [online] accessed 07.05.13. available at: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/08/29/235010.html

France 24 (2013) Minaret of historic mosque destroyed in Aleppo [online] accessed 05.05.13. available at:http://www.france24.com/en/20130425-syria-destroy-world-heritage-mosque-aleppo-minaret

Euromonitor (2012) Travel and tourism in Syria [online] accessed 03.05.13 available at:http://www.euromonitor.com/travel-and-tourism-in-syria/report