The Role of Cultural Routes in Sustainable Tourism Development: A Case Study of Syria’s Spiritual Route Bashar Dayoub 1,3* , Peifeng Yang 1 , Alaa Dayoub 2 , Sarah Omran 1 , He Li 1 1 Af1Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning/ Key Laboratory of New Technology for Construction of Cities in Mountain Area, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China 2 College of Economic and Business Administration, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China 3 Faculty of Architectural Engineering, Tishreen University, Latakia, Syria Corresponding Author Email: bashar.dayoub@hotmail.com https://doi.org/10.18280/ijsdp.150610 ABSTRACT Received: 13 December 2018 Accepted: 20 December 2019 Cultural routes and associated cultural tourism are innovative, broadly networked, and designed tourism systems that serve multiple purposes. Cultural routes had become a tool for maintaining destinations and promoting tourism simultaneously. This study assesses the potential of cultural routes in rebuilding Syria’s dire tourism infrastructure situation after the war. The aim is to examine whether the "Spiritual Route" proposed by the Syrian Ministry of Tourism has the potential to attract tourists and reinstate itself as a sustainable route generating benefits for all stakeholders. The purpose is to determine the potential the “Spiritual Route” has for tourism and how it may attract people. Data has been obtained from a literature review and reconstructed from interviews and information from tourism databases and concerned personnel on its history, geography, and potential as a sustainable culture. The results from a SWOT analysis and the literature review revealed that the “Spiritual Route” has the potential to become a primary tourism attraction for a wide audience. This can be achieved by linking the tangible heritages of different geographical areas if planning and development are appropriate; however, the current internal situation of the war is a substantial hindrance. These principal findings can contribute as a valuable review in highlighting key limitations to be dealt with by decision-makers of Syria’s “Spiritual Route” and others working on similar cultural routes in post-war Syria. Keywords: cultural tourism, cultural routes, cultural corridors, tourism destination, the spiritual route, creative tourism, slow tourism, sustainability, sustainable tourism, SWOT analysis 1. INTRODUCTION The cultural route has a huge potential for cultural tourism [1]. In the 19th century, members of the British aristocracy frequently made a "Grand Tour" of continental Europe. They visited places of high civilization: Egypt, Syria, Greece, Italy, to enrich their outlook [2]. Cultural tourists travel to other states and communities to learn about cultures. But this learning process is usually negative [3]. Cultural tourism isn’t confined to simply sightseeing. The route is systematically broken down into an interlinked web of cohesive sites [4]. "Cultural Routes" illustrates and enriches the growing trend of a cultural heritage approach through a multidimensional impression and contributes to our knowledge [2]. The Council of Europe’s cultural routes program launched the Saint James Pilgrimage Ways as the first Council of Europe cultural route. They have recognized the cultural routes since 1987 [5]. Syria has a diverse and rich cultural heritage, as well as famous sites dating back to early Christianity and the Byzantine period to the Islamic and Ottoman Empires. Pre-war, the tourism sector in Syria employed 20% of the population. Syria has around 3,000 archaeological and cultural sites, which are barely promoted [6, 7]. They include some of the oldest and most prestigious sites in the world [8]. Syria is a valuable asset for archeologists owing to ancient cities like Aleppo and Damascus. They are recognized as UNESCO's World Heritage Cities [9]. The war in Syria has resulted in chaos. Critical conditions in Hama and Homs have severely affected the roads between Aleppo and Damascus and most of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Syria have suffered [10]. Cultural tourism may help in improving Syria’s image after the war. The promotion of Syrian cultural routes can promote tourism growth with an emphasis on remote sites with extensive coverage. This study aims to analyze the potential of the proposed "Spiritual Route” by the Ministry of Tourism in Syria as a productive cultural route. The research examines whether this route will act as a sufficient source for sustainable development serving multiple causes. This study also investigates the route’s capacity to serve various purposes including economic development, post-war rehabilitation for residents of these routes, and cultural promotion, and its capability to act as a new tool for sustainable tourism development. Finally, the findings aim to identify the key steps and approaches required for sustainable tourism routes development. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Culture and tourism are interlinked to serve the main objective of representing the past to the present [11]. Accordingly, cultural routes provide a connection with both International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning Vol. 15, No. 6, September, 2020, pp. 865-874 Journal homepage: http://iieta.org/journals/ijsdp 865