al-Thawra: Saudi tourism to Syria great growth

Saudi tourism to Syria has gained a remarkable growth during 2005 compared with the last few years, al-Thawra daily said Thursday.

The official numbers pointed out that the number of the Saudi tourist headed for Syria during the first six months of this year reached 155,000 tourists compared with 122,000 in 2004 and 75,00 in 2003, the paper added.

The data indicates that the number of the Saudi tourists will exceed half a million, a metter that underlines that Syria is a main destination for Saudi tourists, the daily asserted.

The increase of the Saudi tourists is accompanied with Saudi investment growth in Syria, since the Saudi investment in the tourist sector is expected to exceed $ 700 million during the forthcoming three years.

Four tourist investment projects in Syria have invested more than $ 250 million which are the Syrian-Saudi Company for the Tourist Investment, Afamia Tourist Production Company, the Arab Company for Investment and Bin Laden Company, the daily underlined.