Arab gulf tourists augment in Syria

A report to SANA on Tourism in Syria said Wednesday Gulf tourism constitutes from 70% to 80 % of Arab tourists into Syria.

Official statistics registered the arrival of 575,000 Gulf tourists in 2000, more than 688,000 tourists in 2004, and expected the number to be 750,000 Gulf tourist this year.

The report noted Saudis rank first to constitute 70% of the toursists then comes the Kuwaitis in 15 % and the rest come from the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman.

The increase in Gulf tourists into Syria was accompanied with an increse in air flights from the Gulf region into Syria and vice versa, according to the report.

"Syria owns very big tourist components and she is capable of investing them in the right way in the near future as well on the long run, in a way that gives her greater opportunities to attract millions of tourist," observers said.