Politics

Erbil International Airport: number of tourists booming in 2016

The number of tourists through Erbil International Airport has increased in the first six months of 2016 compared to the year before, said the head of the airport on Thursday.

Sangar Ali 2016/07/30 12:03

kurdistan Kurdistan Tourism Iraq Erbil

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The number of tourists through Erbil International Airport has increased in the first six months of 2016 compared to the year before, said the head of the airport on Thursday.

The Islamic State emerged in the north of Mosul in June 2014, quickly controlling large swaths of territory in Nineveh, Diyala, Salahaddin and Anbar provinces.

The Director General of Erbil International Airport Talar Fayeq told Kurdistan24 that the number of tourists who enter the Kurdistan Region had increased in 2016 compared to the year before despite the presence of insurgents.

“In 2015, we expected the number of tourists to decrease due to the presence of [IS] on the Kurdistan Region border,” Fayeq stated.

“In 2014 we had 1.5 million tourists, but in 2015 it raised to over 1.6 million people,” she continued.

The Region shares over 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of its border with IS in the north of Iraq.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces have pushed the jihadists back with the support of the international coalition warplanes.

Fayeq noted that she expects the number to continue to increase by the end of the year.

“Recently, I compared the number of tourists in the first six months in 2015 and 2016. The result showed that the number has increased by 11.7 percent,” the Director General said.

Kurdistan is suffering from a financial crisis due to the budget cut from the federal government of Iraq at the beginning of 2014.

A drop in oil prices internationally and the presence of 1.8 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Region has also contributed to the crisis.

An official from the tourism sector of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) previously told Kurdistan24 that plans were made to improve the division.

One of the plans were to facilitate tourists to visit the Kurdistan Region. Mainly people in the southern provinces of Iraq who find the Region the only safe and secure place in the country for vacation.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany