Research
Syria Tourism Statistics
Latest visitor numbers, tourism growth, source markets and accommodation statistics for Syria.
Last updated: 21 October 2026
$100 billion
Investment needed to rebuild the sectori
Over seven years
≈5 million
Total visitorsi
January–August 2026 (preliminary)
Visitors to Syria over time
Who is visiting Syria?
Total visitors include foreign visitors, Arab visitors and Syrian expatriates.
January–June 2026
January–June 2026
January–June 2026
Shares calculated against 3.52M · January–June 2026
Top visitor markets
Arab markets
- 1JordanJanuary–June 2026
- 2LebanonJanuary–June 2026
- 3IraqJanuary–June 2026
International markets
- 1TürkiyeJanuary–June 2026
- 2GermanyJanuary–June 2026
- 3SwedenJanuary–June 2026
- 4United StatesJanuary–June 2026
- 5NetherlandsJanuary–June 2026
- 6CanadaJanuary–June 2026
- 7United KingdomJanuary–June 2026
The ministry published rankings only; no per-country visitor numbers were reported.
Visitor numbers in detail
Ministry of Tourism reporting periods differ; each figure states its own period.
2.69M
Syrian expatriate visitorsi
January–November 2025
Over 3.5M
Syrian expatriate visitors
January–August 2026 (preliminary)
377,000
Non-Arab foreign visitorsi
January–November 2025
≈94,000
Visitors from Türkiyei
January–November 2025
5 million
Government visitor targeti
Full year 2026 (target)
30 million
Government visitor forecasti
Next five years (forecast)
229,693
Passengers through Damascus Airporti
September 2026
Heritage and sites
Tourism accommodation
≈60%
Rooms in one- and two-star hotelsi
2026
Source: Tourism Minister Mazen Al Salhani (Arabian Business)
332
Hotels in the upgrade programmei
Launched June 2026
1,468
Tourism establishments needing redevelopmenti
2026
+150–200%
Reported rise in hotel occupancy and arrivalsi
Mid-2026 vs mid-2025
Source: Tourism Minister Mazen Al Salhani (Damascus business conference)
Syria tourism over time
Historical arrivals are counted under the UN Tourism definition of international arrivals, which differs from the ministry's current visitor count.
Source: UN Tourism / World Bank
15%
Tourism share of GDPi
2025
Source: Syrian Ministry of Tourism five-year strategy (via The National)
30–35%
Target tourism share of GDP
By 2030 (target)
Source: Syrian Ministry of Tourism five-year strategy (via The National)
$100 billion
Investment needed to rebuild the sectori
Over seven years
$1.5 billion
Tourism investment deals signedi
September 2025
Acceded
UN Tourism International Code for the Protection of Touristsi
October 2026
Source: Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SANA via Enab Baladi)
Sources
- Tourism Minister Mazen Al Salhani (Arabian Business) — 2026-07-29
- Syrian Ministry of Tourism (Arabian Business) — 2026-07-29
- Syrian Ministry of Tourism (via The National) — 2026-01-28
- Tourism Minister Mazen Al Salhani (Damascus business conference) — 2026-07-29
- World Bank — Data360 Economy Snapshot — 2024-11-01
- Syrian Ministry of Tourism five-year strategy (via The National) — 2026-01-28
- Tourism Minister Mazen Al Salhani (The National) — 2026-01-28
- Middle East Travel & Tourism — 2026-09-30
- Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SANA via Enab Baladi) — 2026-10-13
- UN Tourism / World Bank — 2024-01-01
- Syrian official data (The Media Line) — 2026-08-04
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — 2026-02-01
- Syrian Ministry of Tourism (SANA) — 2026-07-21
- Syrian Ministry of Tourism (Enab Baladi) — 2026-10-03
- General Authority of Civil Aviation — 2026-10-06