Damascus has created a new Tourism Police Unit, responsible for the security of visitors in the country, as part of plans to bolster Syria’s reviving hospitality industry, Syrian Tourism Minister Mazen Al Salhani announced at the Syria Private Sector Dialogue summit in Damascus earlier this week, according to The National.
Salhani said that the new unit would provide guidance to tourist attractions and assist tourists in traveling safely to designated sites and along established tourism routes.
“Syria relies heavily on tourism as a key pillar of its economy. In the initial phase following liberation, we focused on domestic tourism between the governorates,” he said, adding that domestic tourism had grown and many who fled the country under the Assad regime have since come back for visits.
Damascus has invested heavily in attracting new visitors, with the country’s Tourism Ministry announcing in April a $300 million plan to construct the Beaumont business center with the express aim of attracting regional companies to open their headquarters in the capital.
Working to restore and rehabilitate sites, strengthen public-private partnerships
“We are likewise undertaking the rehabilitation and refurbishment of aging and damaged hotels, which remains one of our key priorities... the restoration of historic tourism routes is of particular importance to us,” Salhani said.
“Many of these sites and facilities have suffered from years of neglect. We are therefore working to restore and rehabilitate them while strengthening partnerships between the public and private sectors in order to support their reconstruction and long-term operation.”