page_title: Tourism in Syria
section_title: After 2011
hierarchical_section_title: Tourism in Syria / Overview / After 2011
caption_attribution_description: English: Throne Hall of the Citadel of Aleppo, Syria Français&#160;: Salle du Trône de la citadelle d'Alep, Syrie
context_page_description: Although Syria has some of the oldest cities in Western Asia, such as Damascus and Aleppo, tourism in Syria has greatly reduced as a result of the Syrian Civil War, that began in 2011 and is ongoing, and its associated refugee crisis. Tourism has been further impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19 starting in March 2020. The international economic sanctions imposed on Syria and the sharp drop in the value of the Syrian pound also adversely impact tourism in Syria.
  Before the start of the Syrian Civil War, 8.5 million tourists visited Syria in 2010, who brought in tourist revenue estimated at 30.8 billion SYP, and accounted for 14% of the country's economy. By 2015, the number of tourists had declined by more than 98%.
  Many tourist attractions have been damaged or destroyed by shelling, flights by all major airlines have been suspended, and many major tourist hotels have closed. It is estimated that considerable investment will be necessary to revive Syria’s tourism industry.
context_section_description: Since the start of the Syrian Civil War, in March 2011, tourism has declined steeply. According to official reports, hotel rooms designed for foreign tourists have been occupied by refugees. In the first quarter of 2012, tourism revenue was about 12.8 billion Syrian pounds ($178 million), compared with 52 billion Syrian pounds ($1 billion) in the first quarter of 2011, and the number of foreign tourists decreased by more than 76% in the 2012 quarter. Employment in the tourism industry was down by "nearly two-thirds" in that period. According to UNESCO, five of Syria's six World Heritage Sites have been affected by the civil war. In 2012, Syria sent a letter to the United Nations describing the decline of its tourism industry, noting that the country's hotel-occupancy rate had fallen from 90% the previous year to 15%.
  As of 2013, overall Syrian tourism revenue had declined by 94%, with Aleppo the worst affected, and the Tourism Minister stated, at the end of September 2013, that 289 tourist destinations had been damaged since 2011.
  By 2015, the number of tourists had declined by more than 98%. The Ministry of Tourism claimed that 45,000 tourists visited the country in the first half of 2015, but these figures were disputed by observers, according to the Syrian Economic Forum, which stated that Iranian religious tourism was all that remained. According to a 2015 article in The Telegraph, hotels by beaches in the Mediterranean coast in Tartus and Latakia still received internal tourists and one hotel was "full" in the summer of 2014 and 2015.
caption: Interior to the Citadel of Aleppo
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