LONDON, United Kingdom – Erbil recently became the Arab Tourism Capital for 2014, and there is over $2 billion worth of private investment to develop the tourism infrastructure. Yet, Kurdistan still goes unnoticed in the West.
“On my way here today I was struck by the number and variety of countries advertising themselves as holiday destinations around London,” British MP Nadhim Zahawi said at a tourism conference last week in the British capital, sponsored by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). “One thing really stood out: that Kurdistan was nowhere to be seen among them,” he said.
In recent years, the KRG has begun building the infrastructure needed to open itself up to tourism, but so far has attracted mostly Western adventurers, backpackers, businessmen and journalists.
The KRG claims that in 2012 over 2.2 million tourists visited Kurdistan. But they were mostly Iraqis trying to escape the violence in the rest of the country, out to enjoy Kurdistan’s shopping malls, parks and peace.
According to Herish Muharam Muhamed, chairman of the Board of Investment, “Mountain ranges, canyons and plains offer ample space for tourism resorts and leisure activities. The stable security situation and a relatively cool climate make it (Kurdistan) an attractive tourism destination,” he said.
“We have the people, we have the culture, the heritage – we have so much,” the KRG representative in London, Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, told Rudaw. “But what we don’t have, is that we haven’t organized this in such a way that tourists can come to visit,” she said.
Britain was among the first countries to open a diplomatic mission in Erbil, but there are still no direct flights between the United Kingdom and Kurdistan, partly to Britain’s high security standards.
“We are optimistic those issues can be solved,” Rahman said.
As testimony to Kurdistan’s safety, Kurdish officials note that the last terrorist attack in the autonomous region took place almost a decade ago. But Kurdistan is still often associated with the rest of Iraq that still grapples with instability and violence.
David Lloyd, senior consultant at the Middle East Association (MEA), said that he is trying to change this image, but complained that the “press in the UK is not terribly helpful and usually what is reported about Kurdistan tends to be negative.”
Moreover, he said, “Most people know little about Kurdistan.”
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office sees no problems in Kurdistan. “The FOC travel advice sees no adverse travel restrictions in terms of Iraqi Kurdistan,” said Crispin Simon, a director at UK Trade and Investment, which promotes investments in Britain.
Helena Beard, managing director of KBC PR & Marketing, told Rudaw that it is better to brand Kurdistan differently, not associated with the rest of Iraq.
“From a tourism perspective it is better to not position it in a place called Iraq, but separately from Iraq, closest to Turkey and other better known countries British people travel to. That’s going to have a bigger benefit,” she said.
Beard said that the KRG should continue to use the message that The Citadel of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region, has what is believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, stretching back 8,000 years.
“You can’t find that anywhere else. You can go on about mountains, waterfalls as long as you want, but there are mountains, waterfalls all over the place,” she said. “But nowhere else you claim to have the oldest city in the world. I would use that as a message,” Beard added.
Zahawi believes that, with its rich history, “Kurdistan should already be a tourist hub in the region,”
“It should be competing with some of the world’s most visited sites,” he said. “Let me give you some comparisons: Jordan’s ancient City of Petra is 4,000 years younger than Erbil’s Citadel, but it saw 500,000 people visit it in the last recorded year 2007.”
Paul Craven, country director of Steppe Travel, said that the downside of Kurdish tourism is the cost. “Hotels are very expensive, guides are very expensive, transport is very expensive.”
He also worried that tourism money does not trickle back to the local community and into public amenities, such as good roads and toilets. “Diversity of the product is needed: more interaction with the local people, more choice of accommodation,” he added. “But the food is fantastic!” Craven said.
