Not to be outdone, a Syrian family perched on stone terraces
high above the stage warbles Arabic songs to the beat of a drum.
The theater, wholly enclosed by an Arab fortress, is among
many ancient sites that Syria can promote to develop tourism, already one of
the brighter spots in its hard-pressed economy.
According to Tourism Minister Saadallah Agha Al-Qalaa, the
industry will generate 12 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year. It
already accounts for 23 percent of Syria's hard currency earnings and provides
13 percent of its jobs.
He said tourist arrivals had jumped by a
"spectacular" 1 million in the first four months over the same 2009
period.
"Of course we had some difficulties to provide the
appropriate hotel capacity," he told Reuters in an interview.
International tourism earned Syria $5.2 billion in 2009,
plus $1.5 billion from domestic tourism, 12 percent more than the previous
year, despite a global recession which saw worldwide tourism receipts shrink 4
percent, Al-Qalaa said.
Syria has fueled the tourism boom by removing visa
requirements on visitors from Turkey and Iran.
Westerners are also discovering Syria, now shaking off the
diplomatic isolation that followed the 2005 killing of Lebanese statesman Rafik
Al-Hariri. Damascus denied any responsibility.
European tourists are drawn by archaeological treasures such
as the desert ruins of Palmyra or the old cities of Aleppo and Damascus,
spruced up in recent years and now boasting dozens of boutique hotels and
restaurants in restored courtyard houses.
Some of these lovingly refurbished hotels, targeting a
wealthy clientele, say they are booked for up to a year ahead.
"People come because it is special," said Mayssa
Rumman, manager of Beit Rumman, a six-room hotel in a 17th century house in the
Old City of Damascus which her family bought in 2004.
"We will need another three or four years to break
even," she said. "Everything here is custom-made and it takes time
for people to do it, so you are investing time, money and effort."
New hotels are being built too slowly to cope with tourist
numbers rising roughly 15 percent a year in the past decade.
"We still have a real challenge, with bottlenecks in
high season, mainly in Damascus," said Al-Qalaa, the tourism minister.
He said tourist projects under construction were worth $6.3
billion, compared to those in service worth $4.4 billion, but it would take
time to complete them and train staff properly.
Syria now has only 52,000 beds in two- to five-star hotels
and received 6 million tourists last year, although these included 3.5 million
Arabs and a million Syrian expatriates, many of whom rent apartments or stay
with relatives.
With oil resources dwindling and the effects of a severe
2008-09 drought still lingering, Syria certainly needs a healthy contribution
from tourism if it is to meet its target of 5 percent GDP growth in each of the
next five years.
One challenge is to diversify tourist development so that
benefits are spread across Syria and not concentrated only in the best-known
attractions, Al-Qalaa said, listing new growth areas such as eco-tourism,
health tourism and conferences.
Syrians, despite their government's political tensions with
the West, tend to welcome tourists warmly.
Some state restrictions might surprise tourists, who find
for example that they cannot access popular Internet sites such as Facebook and
YouTube, which are blocked for security reasons.
AL-Qalaa waved away the idea that this might bother anyone.
"I didn't receive any complaints," he said.
"When tourists come to Syria, they let themselves fall into the magic of
the Orient. They don't need to be back in everyday life."
