Erbil forum hosts 200 sightseeing firms to help ailing tourist industry

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region-- Over 200 Kurdish and Iraqi tourist companies attended a forum in Erbil where authorities have struggled to bring back vacationers after many visitors appeared to stay away since 2014 due to the ISIS war in Iraq.

 

The meeting was hosted by the ministries of municipalities and interior which announced they wanted to facilitate the work of nearly 1000 tourist companies in Iraq and Kurdistan Region.

 

"We wanted to listen to them and see what it is that we can do for the companies in order to make tourism a four-season industry, not just a summer activity," said Minister of Municipalities and Tourism, Newroz Mawlood, who was also present at the meeting.

 

The Kurdistan Region attracted thousands of sightseers from neighboring countries in the previous years but the ISIS war and stagnation of the Kurdish economy seem to have contributed to a large number of foreign holidaymakers to stay away.

 

In 2015 as the Region went through sever economic crises and an internal political turmoil, around 30,000 tourists chose to come to Kurdish destinations in Iraq, according to the Kurdistan Tourist Board which monitors and regulates the industry in the Region. 

 

Authorities have planned to invest millions in modern infrastructure and build hundreds of new tourist attractions across the region, which they hope, will bring back their missing vacationers. 

 

Roughly 108,000 tourists visited the Kurdistan Region for Ramadan holidays this year in July, according to the board which showed a significant rise from previous years’ declining numbers.

 

Authorities have said they will work together to facilitate the entry of Iraqi visitors into Kurdistan region after recent years’ tightened check points which heavily limited the arrival of Iraqi travelers from other parts into the region.