Syria Registers an Uptick in Number of Tourists

A seller waits for tourists in the historic market of Damascus, Syria, in April 2011 (Getty Images)
A seller waits for tourists in the historic market of Damascus, Syria, in April 2011 (Getty Images)
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Syria Registers an Uptick in Number of Tourists

A seller waits for tourists in the historic market of Damascus, Syria, in April 2011 (Getty Images)
A seller waits for tourists in the historic market of Damascus, Syria, in April 2011 (Getty Images)

The owner of an oriental shop in the old city of Damascus was asked if European tourists had returned to the historic streets of the Syrian capital.

“I couldn't believe what I saw... Two tourists coming from China to Damascus looked like they came straight out of a folk-art magazine. Everyone who saw them in the Hamidiyah market wanted to take a picture with them,” the owner, who requested anonymity, told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The owner also confirmed the arrival of European tourists but noted that the numbers are still very low.

While mentioning that the two Chinese tourists walking around in traditional wear turned into a spectacle in the market, the owner said: “For the past 10 years, we haven't seen European tour groups like those that used to come to Syria before the war.”

“The majority of those who arrived last year wander about to observe the lifestyle in Damascus and engage with locals, rather than visiting historical sites or purchasing traditional products,” explained the owner.

The proprietor of the oriental emporium expressed delight at the arrival of a European tour group, comprising over 20 tourists who scanned the wares.

However, they only purchased a single postcard, perhaps as a memento.

Even though the store is in a tourist district that draws visitors to sacred sites, there is no buying activity, reported the owner.

Syrian Minister of Tourism Rami Martini announced in media statements on Wednesday an uptick in visitor numbers, with 385,000 arrivals in the first quarter of 2023.

Of these, 345,000 are from Arab countries, while 40,000 are foreigners.

Notably, during the same period in 2022, there were 236,000 arrivals, consisting of 206,000 from Arab countries and 30,000 from foreign nations.

Martini did not disclose the nationalities of the foreign tourists, but local sources indicated that most of them are from allied nations such as Russia, Iran, and China, as well as expatriate Syrians who hold foreign passports.



Israel Wipes Out 29 Lebanese Border Towns

This handout satellite picture provided by Planet Labs PBC and dated October 24, 2024 shows a view of the village of the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on the border with Israel, amid the ongoing war between Hezbollah and Israel. (Photo by Planet Labs PBC / AFP)
This handout satellite picture provided by Planet Labs PBC and dated October 24, 2024 shows a view of the village of the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on the border with Israel, amid the ongoing war between Hezbollah and Israel. (Photo by Planet Labs PBC / AFP)
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Israel Wipes Out 29 Lebanese Border Towns

This handout satellite picture provided by Planet Labs PBC and dated October 24, 2024 shows a view of the village of the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on the border with Israel, amid the ongoing war between Hezbollah and Israel. (Photo by Planet Labs PBC / AFP)
This handout satellite picture provided by Planet Labs PBC and dated October 24, 2024 shows a view of the village of the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on the border with Israel, amid the ongoing war between Hezbollah and Israel. (Photo by Planet Labs PBC / AFP)

Some 29 Lebanese border villages have been “completely destroyed” by Israel, revealed Mohamed Chamseddine, policy research specialist at Information International.

Vidoes have been circulating on social media of dozens of houses in a Lebanese border village being detonated simultaneously by the Israeli army. Israel has been adopting this scorched earth policy since October in an attempt to set up a buffer zone along the border.

In one video, soldiers can be heard chanting a countdown before the detonation of several houses followed by celebrations.

Chamseddine told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israel has destroyed 29 villages dotted across 120 kms from the Naqoura area in the west to Shebaa in the east.

The villages of Aita al-Shaab, Kfar Kila, Adeisseh, Houla, Dhayra, Marwahin, Mhaibib, and al-Khiam have been completely destroyed along with some 25,000 houses, he added.

Last month, the detonations in Adeisseh and Deir Seryan were so powerful that they caused tremors that were initially mistaken for earthquakes.

Experts are in agreement that Israel is completely wiping out villages and all signs of life, including trees, to turn the area into a buffer zone so that residents of northern Israel can return to their homes.

They also believe that the scorched earth policy means that residents of the South won’t be able to rebuild and replant what they lost once a ceasefire is reached and they can return home.

Brig. Gen. Hassan Jouni, former deputy chief of staff of operations in the Lebanese Armed Forces, said Israel wants to be create a 3 km-deep buffer zone along its border with Lebanon.

Israel is destroying everything in that area, leaving it exposed so that any possible threat there can be easily spotted, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

However, he remarked that Israel is not keeping its forces deployed in the South, so it won’t be able to hold any territory and keep these areas destroyed. Any political agreement will inevitably call for the return of Lebanese residents back to their villages where they will rebuild their homes, he explained.

The Lebanese state will in no way agree for the border strip to remain uninhabited and destroyed, Jouni stressed.

“In all likelihood, Israel already knows this, and its actions are part of a psychological war to punish the residents of those villages and towns because they are Hezbollah’s popular support base. Israel wants to drive a wedge between the people and Hezbollah. It is as if it is saying: ‘See how the party was unable to protect your homes,’” he went on to say.

Moreover, Jouni said Israel is mistaken if it believes that a buffer zone will restore security to its northern settlements because those areas can be targeted from beyond the border region.

So, what is taking place on the ground is in effect Israel just going to the extreme in violating international law, he added. “Its claims that it is targeting weapons and ammunition caches do not fool anyone because from a military standpoint, these caches are not stored along the border, but deeper in a country.”