Tourism Gentrification of the Old City of Damascus

Abstract

This chapter examines the reasons behind the increase in the number of boutique hotels in the Old City of Damascus during the years leading up to the civil war. Tourism gentrification of the intramural neighborhoods began in the early 1990s with the conversion of traditional courtyard houses into fashionable spaces of consumption for the Syrian middle and upper classes. Boutique hotels only began to appear in the mid-2000s as the Old City was becoming an international tourist destination. This new trend coincided with travel articles published in major British and American newspapers encouraging affluent travelers to look beyond the headlines and visit Syria. This led to an increase in the number of Western visitors to Damascus, and the political and economic integration of Syria into the global community. With the Old City becoming a global tourist destination, the political repression and social injustices in Syria for many travel writers were secondary to the luxury boutique hotels, fashionable restaurants, and historic sites.