SORAN, Kurdistan Region - Local authorities arranged a skiing festival in coordination with international organizations in Erbil province’s Choman district on Friday, aiming to attract tourists to the Kurdistan Region. A total of 30 athletes, 10 international and 20 local, participated in the skiing competition in Choman, located about 93 kilometers northeast of the Kurdistan Region's capital of Erbil. “Our goal in organizing this event, which consists of a ski competition between local and foreign skiers, was to attract tourists to see the nature of the area and encourage investors to come and launch tourism projects in this location,” Halgurd Mohammed, Choman tourism director, told Rudaw’s Andam Jabar on Friday. In the Kurdistan Region, especially in the mountainous and snowy areas, talented skiers gathered on occasion of the festivals and competitions organized in the area to show their abilities. “I have been skiing for four years as a member of the Choman ski team, and I won first place among local and foreign athletes from Germany, Denmark, and the UK,” said Rozh Kamaran, a professional skier. “I hope to participate in the Olympics,” he added. The first snow festival in Choman dates back to 1952. The mountains of Balakayati are suitable for three categories of slopes, ranging from low to high difficulty, for both snowboarding and skiing. “40 local athletes and 10 foreign athletes from Germany, Denmark, and Norway participated in the competition,” said Omar Sharif, the organizer. Sharif continued saying, “Fortunately, one of our local athletes was able to win [first place] beating the foreign athletes. It is impressive that Kurdish skiers have reached this level.” The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) plans to attract 20 million tourists annually by 2030. There are about 3,000 beds for winter tourists in the Choman district, and several tourism projects are currently under implementation. The government wants to work with the businessmen behind tourism projects to try to attract more winter tourists.
