DAMASCUS, Syria — Although not many people are planning vacations to Syria these days, Tourism Minister Bishr Yaziji remains busy promoting domestic tourism in territories that remain under government control.

Before civil war broke out in March 2011, Syria had been one of the world's leading tourist destinations in the Middle East, attracting millions of people from around the world thanks to its rich cultural heritage and history — Damascus and Aleppo are two of the world's oldest cities — and the beauty and diversity of its nature, including the sea, mountains and desert. Syria is home to more than 14,000 archaeological sites, 65 castles and a panoply of museums, mosques, churches and historic temples, many of which have unfortunately been destroyed during the war.

As one would expect, Arab and other tourists have been reluctant to visit due to the security risks, Arab and Western governments' boycott of the Syrian government, jihadist groups, especially the Islamic State (IS) — having seized control of large areas of the country — and the destruction of monuments in Palmyra, Aleppo, Damascus and other places.

According to sources from the Tourism Ministry, the number of tourists fell from 5 million in 2010 to less than 400,000 in 2015. Consequently, tourism revenue has fallen by about 98% since the outbreak of the war, a loss to the tourism sector of about $6 billion. Opposition sources, however, estimate the loss to be more than $15 billion. The sector once constituted 14% of gross domestic product and employed 13% of the workforce, generating nearly $6 billion a year for the Syrian economy. The war, however, has led to the closure of tourist facilities and worker layoffs.