www.gulfnews.com Syria, at the heart of a turbulent Middle East, might seem a tough sell as a holiday destination, but the government sees tourism as a vital growth sector now that oil resources are dwindling.

With its archaeological treasures, souqs, religious sites and hospitable traditions, Syria has much to offer people interested in culture - and tolerant of service and quality not yet up to the standards of more established tourist industries.

Syria must also grapple with what Tourism Minister Saadallah Agha Al Qalaa acknowledges is an "image problem" associated with instability in Lebanon, Iraq and Palestinian territories.

"Syria is an island in a troubled region," he told Reuters in an interview last week. "So visitors need someone who has been here to tell them it is safe and stable."

Tourists can get visas easily and travel freely around the country. The United States advises its citizens to defer travel to Syria, following an attack by militants on the US embassy in Damascus in September. Britain counsels vigilance.

But the atmosphere is relaxed and welcoming. In the ancient bazaars in Aleppo or Damascus, traders are quick to offer foreigners a glass of tea - and a look at their wares.

The few luxury hotels in big cities have high occupancy rates and private investors, mostly from the Gulf, plan projects worth $3.4 billion to meet anticipated demand from tourists whose numbers are growing at 15 per cent a year, Qalaa said.

"It's very difficult to get a room in Damascus or Aleppo, or on the coast in the season," Qalaa said. "In 2008 or 2009 we should get out of the bottleneck of hotel beds."

By 2010, current projects, which benefit from generous tax breaks, will add 30,000 beds to the 45,000 Syria has now.

Ministry figures show 3.1 million people - excluding Iraqi refugees and Leb-anese fleeing a war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas - visited Syria in 2006, versus 1.7 million in 2000, the year President Bashar Al Assad came to power aged 34.

Back then, the youthful president had set out a vision of tourism as a pillar of the economy, a bridge for international understanding and a motor for regional development, Qalaa said.

He said tourism now accounts for seven per cent of gross domestic product, targeted to rise to nine per cent by 2010. Energy, the biggest sector in the economy, makes up about 28 per cent.

With Syria expected to become a net oil importer as early as next year, tourism cannot immediately match the hard currency earnings generated by oil exports for the past 15 years.

Economist Nabeel Sukkar said no sector was yet ready to take up the slack. "Agriculture, manufacturing, tourism are all promising, but they all need restructuring," he said.

"The most work has been done in tourism, which brings foreign exchange but is vulnerable politically," Sukkar said, citing the impact on Egypt of a 1997 attack by Islamist militants who killed 58 foreigners at a temple in Luxor.

Qalaa said ministry surveys showed that 77 per cent of tourists had come to Syria because of word-of-mouth recommendations, rather than any organised marketing effort.

Now a more systematic promotion campaign is under way. The ministry's marketing budget rose to $5.5 million this year from just $1.5 million in 2006. It is seeking $10 million in 2008.

Roadshows this year are targeting major European countries, Russia, China and India, as well as the Gulf states and Muslim countries such as Turkey and Iran, Qalaa said.

Mass tourism is not the objective, partly because Syria has only a short coastline with relatively unappealing beaches.

"We want tourists who will understand Syria and have new experiences, not those who can spend two weeks here on a beach without knowing where they are," Qalaa said.