Next stop, Libya

Is Libya going to be the next big holiday destination? Will travellers, hungry for new places to visit, be chatting about Tripoli around the water-cooler next year?

The country is leaving its political isolation - and tourists are beginning to find their way to one of the least-visited places in the Mediterranean. . .

The first efforts at attracting western visitors have highlighted Libya's classical heritage - and it's not widely known that the country has five United Nations "world heritage sites".

These include remains of the ancient city of Leptis Magna, which is claimed as one of the finest Roman sites in the Mediterranean, with a forum, amphitheatre, circus and temples. There are also ancient Greek sites, such as the city of Cyrene.

If there is a tourism boom for Libya (and I don't see why there shouldn't be), the lesson certainly won't be lost on other nations that have chosen to keep the world at a distance. I for one have long wanted to see the sites of Syria, where the archeological record is so rich and so little explored. Decry mass tourism if you will, but its ability to bring poorer nations into the world community must not be underestimated. From the BBC.

Posted by David on March 26, 2004 9:46 AM