Business Day 9 July, 2004
Syria recorded a 60% rise in tourist numbers in the first six months of this year from the same year-earlier period, Tourism Minister Saadallah Agha al-Qalaa said.
The minister told Tishrin newspaper that almost 1.2 million tourists travelled to Syria through June, up from 725,000 visitors in the first half of last year.
The number of Western tourists rose to 141,000 from last year's 85,000, Qalaa said, adding that the number of visitors from neighbouring Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey also increased sharply in 2004. Between 2000 and 2003, the number of Western tourists travelling to Syria suffered a sharp decline due to the Palestinian intifada, the September 11 terror attacks in the United States and the US-led invasion of Iraq.
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