#tourism-recovery

#tourism-recovery

Excitement on the ground is only exceeded by the facts, after a record-setting summer that saw downtown hotels finally beat pre-pandemic occupancy rates. Convention business is booming with the new Summit building complete, and cruise and concert travelers are back in full force. The average room now fetches north of $300 a night-a sign that demand has rarely been higher. And yet much higher it will go, with optimism running at a fever pitch ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

I took this photo in late January, when I went back to Palmyra for the first time in three decades for a look at how the iconic site and city had fared over the years of war when it was inaccessible to tourists.