Tourism suffers terribly in Syria

Syria's Tourist Chambers Union stressed that the tourism sector was the most affected due to the current conflict in the country. It blamed warnings launched by a number of international websites preventing tourists from visiting Syria. The Union stressed that some of these warnings "began even before the revolution had started." A number of European tourists were "pressured" to leave Syria, the Union added, which strongly affected the tourist season. Syria's Tourist Chambers Union blamed terrorist attacks targeting transportation in Syrian cities, including Damascus and Aleppo, for the notable decline witnessed in the hotel occupancy. The increasing battles have led to the suspension of visitors, while different hotels have been forced to close down. The Union added that over 40 percent of workers in Syria’s tourism sector have lost their jobs, affirming that over 50,000 are now unemployed.