Syria releases video in hope of encouraging tourism

The Syrian tourist board has released a promotional video showing packed beaches and blue seas whilst the country remains ravaged by war.

The video, showing the coastal town of Tartus which was hit earlier this year by a series of Islamic State bombings, ends with the slogan: “Syria, always beautiful.”

Meanwhile Syria continues to be the torn apart by a brutal five-year civil war and the on-going offensive against Islamic State.

Syrian towns have been flattened by bombs and over 300,000 people have fled the country in terror.

Last month a picture of a Syrian boy rescued from the rubble of a building flattened in the city of Aleppo shocked the world.

But the tourist clip shows people happily sunbathing and playing in turquoise Mediterranean waters.

The clip is aimed at encouraging domestic tourism rather than foreign visitors.