Syria touts for Gulf tourists amid emerging Arab rapprochement

Syria touts for Gulf tourists amid emerging Arab rapprochement

Overlooked by a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad and offering sticky sweets, a Syrian tourism booth in Dubai is trying to seize on an emerging rapprochement with Arab states to win back Gulf tourists it lost during more than a decade of war.

"We are now aiming to regain the tourism income from (Gulf Cooperation Council countries) to Syria. We used to have millions of our friends and brothers from GCC countries in Syria, especially in summer," Nedal Machfej, Syria's deputy tourism minister, told Reuters at the Arabian Travel Market exhibition in Dubai.

Some Arab states, including GCC members the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, are increasingly rebuilding ties with Damascus, reversing years of isolation over Assad's crackdown on protests in 2011 and the ensuing civil war.

Assad in March visited the UAE and sources have told Reuters that Saudi Arabia plans to invite Assad for a visit soon.

Machfej said Syria had 1.5 million visitors last year, a third of which were tourists. Around 10% of those tourists were from western Europe, he added.

This year Syria is aiming for 3 million visitors, he said. Tourism ministry data shows 385,000 visitors came to Syria in the first quarter this year, 40,000 of which