Hani Abou al-Nasser rolls his eyes, shrugs and lets out a worried sigh as he gestures toward his empty store in the old souk of Damascus, Syria.
“I haven’t made a penny in four days,” laments the 64-year-old. “There is no work. The tourists are gone.”
His is a story repeated by merchant after merchant in the Syrian capital’s market, usually teeming with activity and tourists jostling to buy scarves, jewellery, tablecloths, spices and other souvenirs.
An eerie silence has replaced the cacophony of traders hawk-ing their wares and calling out to customers in French, English, German and other languages.
Tourists have deserted the warren of ancient alleyways and merchants sit forlornly in front of their shops, killing time playing backgammon, fiddling with worry beads or discussing the unrest roiling the country for two months.
Faced with the drastic drop in activity during peak season that runs from March until June, many restaurants, hotels and shops have been forced to lay off employees and some have even shut down.
Viken Korkejian is anxiously watching developments and wondering how long he can keep his business afloat.
“We have laid off about 50 per cent of our hotel staff and 25 per cent of the restaurant staff,” said Mr Korkejian, director of Oriental Hotel and Restaurant, another of the dozens of boutique hotels in traditional houses that have flourished in the old town in recent years. He still keeps his office lit but the entrance – the stunning central courtyard around which life and living quarters revolve – is now dark at night, not worth putting the lights on.
“The hotel courtyard used to be filled with customers we could chat with and now it’s totally empty, it’s sinister” he added. “I had two Swiss customers earlier this month for five days and I felt like I was in heaven.”
A short distance away, Samer Koza, who owns a jewellery store and art gallery, also said his business had all but dried up since mid-April – first because of the unrest in Egypt and then as the pro-democracy protests escalated in Syria with Western countries advising their nationals against travel to the country.
“We had the best season ever last year and we were expecting to do even better this year,” he said. “But now we are starting to tighten our belts.
According to the tourism ministry, the industry in 2010 accounted for 12 per cent of GDP, generating more than $7.6 billion. The number of tourists jumped by 40 per cent in 2010, from 6.9 million to 8.5 million visitors, according to the ministry.
However, now many fear the current tourist downturn will last until the end of the year translating into million of dollars in losses.