Visit Sunny Syria!

At the same time the war-torn country is expelling aid groups, it’s embarking on a new tourism campaign:

In early May, the regime unveiled proposals to lure visitors to the Assad heartland of Lattakia, including a public beach equipped with a fast-food restaurant, a cafe that seats at least 200, and a parking lot for out-of-towners. Now may not be the best time for a trip to the beach in Lattakia: Rebel Islamist groups marched towards the province in late March. Although they lost in the end, their offensive alarmed the regime, which had to counter them by repositioning some of its forces from other areas.

Never mind. On May 11-12, the Ministry of Tourism held a forum highlighting small and medium-sized touristic projects at Damascus’s Dama Rosa Hotel. Twenty-four proposals, which the Ministry claims are ready for investment, came out of the forum, and some of them are located in Hama, a province where the regime’s future is tenuous. The Ministry granted a license for a 42-room hotel in Hama with a restaurant and health center containing a Jacuzzi, sauna, and steam room. How guests will be able to reach the facility safely is unclear: The hotel is located on the Homs-Hama road, which was bombed by the Free Syrian Army on April 16.