DAMASCUS (AFP) ― Tourism in Syria has been decimated by more than 17 months of deadly conflict, with hotel rooms once let to foreigners now often occupied by people who are refugees in their own country, official figures show.
Revenue from tourism has plummeted 75.4 percent since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule erupted, the prime minister’s office was quoted as saying by the government daily Tishrin on Wednesday.
A government study showed that tourism generated just 12.8 billion Syrian pounds ($178 million) in the first quarter of 2012, compared with 52 billion in the same period last year ― $1 billion at the time.
