FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT SYRIA TOURISM

1 COME SEE OUR BEACHES

As the camera drifts over a bright blue sea, we see hundreds of people relaxing and playing. Some rest on a sandy beach while others speed through the water on jet skis. In the background, euphoric electronic music plays. But some people landing on the video may be surprised to read its title: “Syria Always Beatiful,” the video says in misspelled English.

2 AD CAMPAIGN

Over the past three weeks, there have been a dozen slick promotional videos posted on YouTube by Syria Tourism. One video showed ancient sites, including Palmyra, which was ravaged by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Another shows a race car speeding around a track with the message: “The wheel of life never stops.”

3 ABOUT THAT BRUTAL CIVIL WAR

None of the videos mention the brutal civil war that has seen more than 400,000 killed and forced millions to flee their homes. Nor do they make note that the Syrian government of Bashar Assad has been accused of numerous atrocities in the five years since the war started.

4 THE PAST WAS A BLAST

Tourism provided the country with considerable revenue in the past. Some 8.5 million tourists came to the country in 2011, helping to create revenue of almost $8.3 billion that year. The industry contributed to around 13.5 per cent of the country’s total GDP and provided about 13 per cent of all jobs.

5 READY FOR A COMEBACK

The war still rages, but for the Syrian regime, tourism is clearly still important. In June, Tourism Minister Bishr Riad Yaziji told Russia’s Sputnik news agency that the country was ready to make a tourism comeback. The Washington Post