ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The fact that it is held, is even more important than the outcome, said participants in the first International Tourism Conference held this week in the Iraqi Kurdistan capital of Erbil.
With some 150 companies registered as participating, and some 45 stands where companies could present themselves and their products, the two-day Tourism Conference in the Rotana Hotel in Erbil can be considered as one of the smaller ones held in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Participating companies were mainly Kurdish or Iraqi, with a small minority from abroad.
Erbil almost monthly hosts conferences, to attract investors, businessmen, traders and specialists to Iraqi Kurdistan. This was the first Tourism Conference to attract travel and tourism companies, and the odd tourist. As it was the first, it attracted over 60 media representatives to report on it.
The conference is timed to be part of the preparations for Erbil Capital of the Arab World 2014, and was attended by many Arab visitors. Its main message was that Erbil is ready for the task ahead, and that it is safe and secure.
It is for that reason that Erbil caught the eye of the Arab Tourism Organization (ATO), its president Bandar bin Fahd Al Fahid made clear. In the opening ceremony he mentioned that tourism in the Arab world has dropped by 45 percent because of “exceptional circumstances” – meaning the Arab Spring and the regime changes across the Middle East. Kurdistan has been mainly exempt from this.
To be able to attract and serve Arab tourists, ATO has a parallel policy with the Kurdish and the Iraqi governments, to develop tourism by offering training and marketing. Not mentioning the historical and political sensitivities between Kurds and Arabs, he stressed the promise of Arab tourism for Iraqi Kurdistan. “Arab tourists spend more money than other foreigners,” Bandar bin Fahd claimed.
He made a point of proclaiming Erbil mayor Nawzad Hadi “Mayor of the Tourist Capital of the Arab World.” Hadi himself stressed that the effect of the campaign should be shared with other Kurdish cities. He announced that toward that goal the Kurdish government has reserved $20 million for the development of the tourism industry in 2014, and is offering loans to those who have plans for projects that fit the policy.
With the help of foreign advisers the government has made a strategic plan for 2013-2025, or a “road map towards 2025,” as the head of the Kurdistan Tourism Board Mawlawi Jabar Wahab said during a presentation at the conference. The end goal is seven million tourists and $2.17 billion revenue from the tourist industry in 2025.
This plan is based on nature and culture as the main features of Kurdistan, with Erbil as the most attractive city. The process starts with improving “the skeleton of the tourism organization,” Mawlawi said, probably referring to the quality of staff working on developing tourism. “Tourism is an industry that is always in movement, and is new to us.”
An Arab advisor at the conference stressed the need to build human capacity through training. Worldwide tourism is the second most important employment sector, after education, he pointed out.
The board has chosen 403 locations that will be developed, of which 67 will be executed in the next two years. “As we don’t want to repeat the same features, we have different projects for the different towns, so tourists will get different experiences,” Mawlawi said.
The United Arab Emirates were mentioned at the conference as an example of how to make Kurdistan attractive for tourists. Marketing and investment are most important, next are safety, easy visa, good hospitals and health care, good road and traffic signs. And the community has to accept tourism, one of the speakers pointed out. “We went to the Erbil citadel and talked to people. We saw all smiles, and everybody wanted to take a picture with us. That is important too.”
Some of the speeches were lost for part of the visitors, as after the opening session the translators disappeared. The conference soon proved to be less “international” than its title proclaims.
“The next conference has to be bigger. We need the foreign companies,” said Rawa Ranj of BavoHotels.com, a booking site for travelers from abroad. His customers were not present. While the stands were mainly offering hotel space and tours, foreign clients, travel companies and travelers were mostly absent.
Yet a quick round through the hall showed relative satisfaction. “I can catch my customers from the rest of Iraq here, and I cannot go there,” one stand holder said. “Many picked up our time tables for our flights,” another noted. “My hotel did get attention from people who did not know it,” was another comment.
