Historical
investment
No doubt inspired by the growth of tourism in Lebanon, Syria has launched a concerted push to promote itself as a tourist destination by cashing in on its abundance of natural and historical sites to attract foreign visitors—and their currencies.
According to Syria’s tourism ministry, 3.4 million foreigners visited the country in 2005, a figure Damascus wants to see reach 7 million by the end of the decade. Investments in the tourism sector rose from $100 million in 2003 to $800 million by the end of last year, again a figure Damascus wants to see more than double in the coming years.
As an incentive to investors, the Syrian government has set out an attractive build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme, with lease terms of up to 99 years. The government has waived a number of taxes formerly applied to investments in the tourism industry, including stamp duty on contracts. It has also cut the time and complexity needed for applications to make investments in the sector and identified 82 sites to be set aside for tourism development. Further incentives include tax holidays for investors for the first seven years of operation and tax cuts of up to 50% from the eighth year onwards.
The government has also given a commitment that it will boost infrastructure in areas listed as being of high tourism potential and upgrade the quality of services provided at sites of interest to visitors.
Facing challenges
However, Syria’s tourism industry does face a number of challenges. Compared to some of its neighbors, it does not have the number of high-end resorts and facilities needed to cater to the well-heeled visitors who are increasingly becoming the focus of the market. Damascus is attempting to redress this deficiency by actively seeking out foreign, and especially Arab, capital inflow to help the industry blossom.
In the past months, Syria has been wooing Arab investors, with more than a little success. Leading the charge has been Sadallah Agha al-Qala, the minister of tourism, who has been touting both the country’s tourism potential and the increasing ease and attractiveness of doing business in the country.
“The Syrian government has opened the way for scores of tourist sites that achieve economic and tourist feasibility in addition to issuing a large number of decisions and decrees which encourage the launching of new tourist projects,” the minister was quoted as saying to a delegation from Iran’s Amiran Group for Investment in late September.
Amiran’s chairman, Hasan Akhondi, said his group was looking into setting up a tourism resort complex on the Mediterranean coast near Lattakia that would include hotels, chalets and associated facilities. Though still in the negotiation stage, Akhondi said Damascus’ new measures to encourage investment in tourism were encouraging.
Regional interest
The Iranian interest in Syria, and especially around Lattakia, has been mirrored by other investors from the region, with Kuwaiti company al-Nour looking into launching a major development on the shores of the nearby November 16 Lake. In September, representatives of Qatari tourism developer al-Diyyar signed a memorandum of understanding with the Syrian government to invest $250 million in a new coastal project at Ibn Hani, which will include a five-star hotel, villas and chalets, a shopping complex and eateries, to be built on an area of 220,000 m2.
Naser al-Ansari, Al-Diyyar’s executive director, said that the Ibn Hani project would not be the last his firm would invest in, but rather the first of many.
These are only some of the new projects coming on line. According to Fareed Karima, Syria’s director of tourism projects, there has been a growing interest in the country’s tourism sector. In a press statement released in early September, Karima said 51 investors had made bids on 18 of the tourism sites identified by the government. The total value of these bids alone added up to $500 million.
The last three years have seen a constant 6% increase in foreign arrivals, with receipts growing apace. Having already taken steps to liberalize the sector and encourage investment, Syria is looking to build on its newly laid solid foundations.
