ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A staggering 90 percent reduction in the number of tourists from the central and southern provinces of Iraq to Duhok province's Zakho has been reported following the deadly shelling last month that killed nine Iraqis in the area, a tour supervisor told Rudaw on Monday.
Tourism has fallen a massive 90 percent in Zakho and 70 percent in Duhok following the attack on Parakh village, Araz Zrar said, adding that remote tourist attractions in Zakho have been closed by the security forces and only a few undesirable locations have been reopened to tourism.
Zrar said that an average of 1,000 tourists from central and southern Iraq would visit Zakho's tourist attractions weekly last year, but that number has fallen to only 100 to 150 following the widely-condemned shelling.
A deadly artillery shelling struck a tourist resort in Zakho on July 20, killing nine Iraqis and injuring over 30 others. The attack was widely attributed to Turkey by Erbil and Baghdad but Ankara has denied involvement, blaming the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) instead.
Protests were held in several Iraqi provinces the day following the attack, with demonstrators calling for the expulsion of the Turkish ambassador to Iraq and the reduction of diplomatic ties with Turkey.
Effects from the shelling have taken a serious financial toll on tourist resort owners in Duhok province.
