www.gulf-daily-news.comBillions of dollars worth of investments in Syria's tourism industry will allow it to accommodate nearly double the current number of visitors by 2010, according to senior government officials. Syrian Prime Minister Mohamad Naji Otri said that 4.5 million tourists visited the country last year and the number is expected to increase to seven million over the next four years.
Mr Otri, who was speaking at his court in Damascus to journalists attending the country's Silk Road Festival, said the annual increase in the number of tourists had reached 15 per cent.
He said some of the ongoing tourism plans carried out by the Syrian government included opening permanent offices abroad to promote tourism and investment.
About 150 journalists were invited by the Tourism Affairs Ministry to attend the festival, held from September 26 to 30 in Damascus, Tadmour and Aleppo.
The event, held under the patronage of Mr Otri, featured an operetta, classical music concerts, art and Quran exhibitions as well as seminars.
At a Press conference held in Aleppo, Syrian Tourism Minister Saadallah Agha Qalaa said that the overall tourist investment reached $940m last year, compared to only $100m in 2003.
He said his ministry plans to attract seven million tourists by 2010, which will bring over $4 billion in revenues to Syria.
"The ministry also plans to quadruple the budget for promoting Syria in 2007, which may even increase four folds in the following year," said Mr Qalaa.
The minister said that Syria was keen to encourage more investments in its tourism sector to accommodate its ambitious plans to attract more tourists.
"The country currently has 44,000 classified hotel beds and 55,000 unclassified, since most Arab tourists prefer to rent furnished apartments," he said.
Mr Qalaa said the government was offering investors many incentives to set up tourism projects in the country, including tariff exemptions during the building of the projects.
He said investment in tourism sector did not exceed $100m in 2003, which increased to 940m last year and is expected to reach over $1bn by the end of this year.
"Work on establishing a new project by the InterContinental Hotel and Resorts in Damascus at a budget of $217m is underway," he said.
"There are other projects being carried out in Tadmour and Aleppo, including a new tourism villages and resorts as well as schools and institutes."
The minister said that Arab tourists represent around 74pc of the total number of tourists, who are attracted to Syria's pleasant weather and shopping facilities as well as its cultural and tourist attractions.
Mr Qalaa said that even though the war on Lebanon had some impact on Syria's tourism, the projected increase of the number of tourists would not have a lasting effect.
He said during the crises, many visitors came to Syria from Lebanon to leave to their respective countries.
"We had problems with accommodating the large numbers of people and the tourism industry did suffer from the escalating situation," said the minister.
"However, once the crises ended, the flow of tourists resumed at a satisfactory rate by mid-July.
"The indicators show that during this and next month when many Europeans visit the country there will not be a significant decrease in the number of tourists." United Kingdom. |