Shop owners report fewer travellers while bars and wineries hope for legal clarity on alcohol sale
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bu Ali spent the first hours after the toppling of the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad boxing up his merchandise. Old-regime bumper stickers, mugs with Assad’s face, T-shirts on which Russian and Syrian flags faded into each other – it all had to go.
A year later, the weathered tourist shop on the boardwalk of the Syrian coastal city of Tartous has entirely new products. The shelves are lined with the new three-star Syrian flag, mother-of-pearl jewellery boxes engraved with revolutionary slogans, and pictures of rebel fighters killed during the country’s 14-year civil war.
“Business is slow these days. Tourists and travellers used to come before but now it’s slowed down. We just need more security and things will improve,” said Ali, 48, the owner of the shop.
