Despite more than a decade of war and massive destructions, the Syrian government has been implementing policies to re-develop its tourism industry in an attempt to attract wealthy Syrians living abroad, as well as regional and international tourists. This analysis explores the strategies adopted by the Syrian government to encourage tourism, with both short-term and medium-term impacts on the economic situation as well as the government’s re-engagement with foreign actors. It particularly examines the development of the tourism industry in Syria under the rule of Hafez al-Assad from 1970 and the boom of the sector under his son Bashar al-Assad between 2000 and 2010. It also analyzes the Syrian government’s strategies to re-develop the tourism industry in the wake of the war and returns made in terms of capital, profits and investments. And finally, it looks at the role of the Syrian Ministry of Tourism in accelerating the normalisation process with other countries as well as the limitations of the Syrian regime’s policies in regard to the tourism sector and obstacles to achieving their objectives.