Syrian side of things

By Hazel Heyer l Special to eTN
During the first day of the incursion, waves of evacuees mostly Gulf nationals and scores of Lebanese (citizens and dual passport-holders US/EU citizens) fled to Syria. A great number of Gulf Arabs came on transit for a day or two before returning home. Former CIS citizens also poured in. Others did not have a layover in Damascus but just carried on.

To date, some 300,000 evacuees have fled taking the Beirut-Damascus route. In total, about 700,000 Lebanese have been displaced.

eTurboNews spoke with Nashaa't Sanadiki, president of the Syrian Federation of Tourism  Chambers, the umbrella organization under which the Syrian Hotel Association, Travel Agents Association, Chamber of Tourist Establishments and Chamber of Tourism Supplies/Commodities fall.

In this exclusive interview, we hear first-hand how Syria's tourism industry plays a major role in an emergency about to turn into a humanitarian crisis within just a few days.

eTN: How is Syria coping with this huge influx? Is your hotel or lodging industry able to absorb the traffic? Were you prepared for a crisis like this? How?
Nashaa't Sanadiki: Our occupancy was running very high already.  There are about 43,000 rooms and 80,000 beds. The summer season was well booked by neighboring visitors who enjoy our weather, mountains, sea, nature and the city life. Prior to the crisis, several hotels even reported 130 percent occupancy all the way until September. Then came the violence last Thursday, all the hotels were immediately sold out. Today, however, one is able to find rooms much easier unlike the first days of infighting. I must say, there is slight difficulty with finding a regular, standard guestroom as some properties have opened their restaurant outlets, clubs, ballrooms and other convention facilities for use as sleeping quarters. Hotels put extra beds in meeting rooms, fitness centers, just about everywhere, to accommodate them all.

eTN: Do you charge guests for using the facilities other than the standard rooms?
Sanadiki: The hotels do. But we also have shelters such as schools, villages, convents, churches, public buildings accommodating the refugees and homeless. One thing I would like to underscore, we are not taking advantage of the crisis situation. Hotels are not engaging in any price-gouging.

eTN: How are your shelters able to feed tens of thousands stranded there?
Sanadaki: A lot of private organizations and the business associations are chipping in. In fact, in last Friday's prayer, the highest donations collected totaled $20,000. This charity will go on for as long as the refugees are coming in. The Syrian Red Crescent society is managing the funds disbursement. They are putting up kiosks on the Syrian-Lebanese border at the same time, offering them supplies upon arrival to Syria including phone access and sometimes, even mobile phones to talk to their relatives.
 
Past the border, Syrians give Pampers to children, blankets to families, water and food. On top, to ease things up, we receive the Lebanese even without their legal documents. Such are old women who fled their homes in haste, families whose homes got destroyed and lost their passports or IDs.

Coaches are picking them up from the border free of charge.

eTN: How do you keep a record of the entries? How are the evacuees doing?
When they reach Syria, do they look tired, stressed out, wounded, bleeding or sick?
Sanadiki:  Of course, we keep a record of all entries including hotels they stay or onward addresses. They are doing just fine. Most of them on the borders are being interviewed by Arab TV networks. It may have taken them 10 to 13 hours to reach the border and yes, they are worn out.

eTN: Are you getting help from the United Nations with supplies, medicine, first-aid?
Sanadiki: Everything is provided by our government and the Syrian people.  Since we manufacture 60 percent of the medicines we consume, everything today is available right here. They are handed out in generous amounts to all the evacuees in need.

eTN: I assume all your hotels in Damascus are full. How about the hotels outside the capital such as in Tartush, Palmyra, Bosra, Aphamia, etc?
Sanadiki: In the first 5 days of the crisis, people filled up hotels in Aleppo and Latakia when Damascus reached capacity. Major concentration of evacuees and guests we received was in these cities.

eTN: When guests' funds run out, what do you do with them?
Sanadiki: Nobody came without funds. The poorer ones, of course, get housing at the shelters.

eTN: Is there safety and security in the streets these days now that your population jumped by a quarter million overnight? Is there law and order in public areas?
Sanadiki: Nobody sleeps in the streets. Everyone gets a roof above his head and gets three hot meals a day. Our tourism and hotel staff volunteer to cook for people, serve them with plates, cups and cutleries. Things are being managed by volunteer groups. Crime is off the streets and law and order maintained round the clock.

eTN: Doesn't this stretch the hotel and tourism staff thin?
Sanadiki: They do this a call of duty, as part of their job. People here are extremely kind to neighbors, especially in times of crisis.

eTN: What happened to your summer tourists who booked before the crisis started? Did they cancel, leave in a rush, free the rooms or stay?
Sanadiki: They stayed. Guests are still coming in. Others who were already in Syria stick to their travel plans.

eTN: How easy or difficult is it for Americans and other nationals to enter Syria today as we know you have tight entry regulations unlike your neighboring Arab countries?
Sanadiki: Whoever comes from Lebanon today is allowed entry, including their domestic helpers/ housemaids/ drivers/ personal staff most of whom come from Ethiopia, India, Sri Lanka, Colombo, Indonesia, the Philippines. Immigrations has always been very tough with household staff. But since the crisis started, they have allowed all Lebanese to come with non-relatives who work for them.

Before the crisis, the Syrian government agreed with tour operators that when groups of seven or more come in with a travel itinerary, they can get the visa upon arrival. Those who come on their own as independent travelers need to secure their visas in advance. As part of our bilateral agreement with Lebanon, those who enter Lebanon with a visa may enter our country securing the Syrian visa at the point of entry, vice versa for Lebanon. If guests come through an official tourist program, the visa fee is waived.

On their own, Americans who come are charged $100 for a visa – same amount a Syrian gets charged to enter the US. This is just a matter of reciprocity. Since this war broke, the visa regulation has been thoroughly relaxed.

(Part one in a two-part series)

July 24, 2006   Posted in: Syria