ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — After the demise of ISIS and the reopening of the Duhok-Mosul road, tourists from Nineveh province flocked back to the astonishing tourist spots of the Kurdistan Region. Over the past week, some 8,000 people visited Duhok.
"I have been bringing in tourists to the Kurdistan Region from Mosul for a month now," Zeyad Mohammed, tourist company owner, told Rudaw. "Tourists call me on a daily basis asking me to register them for tourism."
Other tourists from Mosul like Mohammed Salim said, "Four years of our lives under ISIS rule were wasted. Now, we feel like we were just born."
Sheikh Ihsan Brifkani, the head of the Association of Hotels and Guest Houses in Duhok, explained re-opening of the Duhok-Mosul road was a boost for his sector in the province.
According to Brifkani, 105 more Iraqi tourism companies have registered to bring in tourists to the province.
He suggested that an estimated half a million tourists will visit Duhok this year.
Before Mosul fell to ISIS in 2014, large numbers of people from Mosul often visited nearby Duhok in the Kurdistan Region. ISIS rule in Iraq's second-largest city meant that few tourists could make the journey.
"I have been bringing in tourists to the Kurdistan Region from Mosul for a month now," Zeyad Mohammed, tourist company owner, told Rudaw. "Tourists call me on a daily basis asking me to register them for tourism."
"Just in last week, we brought in 5,000 tourists to Duhok," Mohammed said, adding other companies together brought in another 3,000 tourists.
After final examinations of students, "the number will further increase," he presumed.
Other tourists from Mosul like Mohammed Salim said, "Four years of our lives under ISIS rule were wasted. Now, we feel like we were just born."
Sheikh Ihsan Brifkani, the head of the Association of Hotels and Guest Houses in Duhok, explained re-opening of the Duhok-Mosul road was a boost for his sector in the province.
"The opening of the road, after ISIS was defeated, was a great hope for the hotels and tourist spots," he said.
Due to three years of ISIS rule in Mosul, some 53 hotels had shut down their doors in Duhok, but now all have opened.
According to Brifkani, 105 more Iraqi tourism companies have registered to bring in tourists to the province.
He suggested that an estimated half a million tourists will visit Duhok this year.
Relevant story: Restaurant inside a cave in Duhok attracts tourists
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