Syria: An Economic Survey 



about 15-25,000 annually. The total receipts accruing to Syria 

 from tourists may be roughly estimated as follows : 



Classes (a), (b) and (c) . . . 1,000,000 francs 



Class (d) 3,000,000 " 



Class (e) 2,000,000 " 



Class (f ) 4,000,000 " 



Total 10,000,000 " 



If travelling and hotel conditions in Palestine were better 

 a far greater number of tourists would undoubtedly visit the holy 

 places. Good roads for automobiles, European hotels and an adver- 

 tising campaign in Europe and America would bear immediate 

 fruit. The same may be said of the Lebanon, which is an ideal 

 summer resort. There are already several agencies in Syria (Ham- 

 burg-American Line, Thos. Cook and Son, Clark) which arrange 

 tours in Palestine and the rest of Syria. When Syria becomes easy 

 of access and offers the same modern comforts to tourists as Egypt 

 it will be possible to utilize its watering places. The hot sulphur 

 springs of Tiberias, famous since antiquity, and widely used by 

 natives, resemble the hot springs in Aix-la-Chapelle. The water, 

 which has a temperature of 143.6 degrees F., is rich in sulphur and 

 magnesia chloride and has radio-active properties. The hot springs 

 of Hamman-ez-Zerka (the Callirrhoe of the Romans) were used by 

 Herod. There are also hot sulphur springs in the Yarmuk Valley. 

 It seems, too, that the enormous basin of the Dead Sea may also 

 be used for medicinal purposes. The lower Jordan Valley would 

 prove an ideal winter resort for consumptives and convalescents in 

 general. 



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