Two families from Baghdad, who booked a motel in Erbil province’s Shaqlawa, said they were satisfied with the prices and services given the high demand.
“In this situation during the holiday, the prices are very reasonable. We are staying here and came four days before the Eid. Today, we are going to the summer resorts, and later we will go to see another area in beautiful Kurdistan, which is Sulaimani,” Ziad Hamza, a tourist, told Rudaw on Saturday.
Maha Majid, another tourist, also praised the services provided.
“The services and accommodation are very good. Thank God, everything is available. We want it always to continue this way,” she said.
However, a lesser number of tourists have visited compared to previous years, coupled with a decrease in people from within the Kurdistan Region heading to the tourist resorts due to salary woes, with Baghdad halting all budget transfers to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
“In Shaqlawa, the certified hotels and motels, including the villas that people rent out, total nearly 9,000,” said Dildar Hassan, head of Shaqlawa’s tourism directorate. “A large number of Arab tourists have come, but internal tourists have lessened due to the effects of no salaries.”
In the Soran Independent Administration’s Gali Ali Bag valley, a major tourist hotspot, families also came from Iran, in addition to central and southern Iraq.
“The nature here is beautiful with cool and pleasant weather. The people are very good and hospitable. This is our first time coming here, but I am sure we will come back twice or three times,” said Meysam Mohammadi, a tourist from Iran.
Many Iraqis living abroad have also come to the Kurdistan Region for the Eid holidays.
“We came from Sweden two or three days ago. We figured that on these beautiful days of Eid, we will come to these beautiful and pleasant tourist sites of Erbil. The people are good and the places are beautiful. We never get bored of it, and we will come back every summer,” said Shahad Tahir.
Faisal Sadiq, head of Soran’s tourism directorate, expected over 100,000 tourists to visit Erbil province.
“We predict that over 100,000 tourists will come to Erbil, and that they will also come to the Soran Independent Administration during this holiday,” he said.
The Kurdistan Region’s tourism board has projected that over 300,000 tourists, mostly from central and southern Iraq, will visit the Kurdistan Region during the current holiday season.
On Thursday, tourism officials from the Kurdistan Region’s four provinces told Rudaw that the majority of hotels were fully booked ahead of the holidays.
The Kurdistan Region is considered Iraq’s main tourist hub. With its moderate summer weather and cold winters, the Region welcomes Iraqi tourists throughout the year.
The bulk of holidaymakers visiting the Kurdistan Region come from Iraq’s central and southern provinces, while the remaining tourists come from abroad.
The KRG plans to attract 20 million tourists per year by 2030.
