During his stay here he hosted a seminar for some 200 travel agents and tour operators to promote Syria's tourist attractions. According to IRNA, some three months ago a delegation of Malaysian tour operators and travel agents was brought to Syria to have a closer look at the country, which is located on the most important meeting point between the East and West. Its cultural riches encompass Arab, Roman, Greek and Byzantine civilizations, among others. Hanano said that later this year he would lead a 100 member-delegation comprising Syrian businessmen, media personnel, tourists, tour operators and travel agents to Malaysia to promote this country's tourist attractions among Syrians. I think Malaysia covers all aspects of tourism such as leisure, shopping and cultures, he said.
MAs now flies to Beirut, Lebanon, the closest destination to Syria.
Hanano explained that his mission was not only to promote Syria's tourist attractions and vice-versa but also to use tourism as an economic element to encourage more business and investment for mutual benefit. He urged the Malaysian private sector to explore the possibility of investing in Syria's hotel and resort sector, mountain resorts, desert activities, transportation companies and other infrastructure development. Hanano who is the member of Parliament for Damascus said the government of President Dr. Bashar al-Assad was very keen to develop the tourism sector and had targeted about eight million tourist arrivals by 2010 compared with about two million arrivals last year. Hanano's company, Silk Road Travel Tourism has partnered a Malaysian firm speed travel to organize tour packages to Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt for Malaysians. According to Hanano about 100 Malaysians visit these countries every month through this joint venture and the number is expected to increase.