WATCH: Erbil launches City Tour Bus, attracts crowd

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The first ever daily double-decker bus in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region will soon be available for visitors touring the city of Erbil.

In the past few years, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has started to develop the tourism sector in the Kurdistan Region, aiming to showcase its beautiful and historic destinations.

In a bid to breathe new life into the tourism industry, a two-floor tour bus from Spain was brought to the Kurdistan Region in cooperation between the private sector and the Erbil Province's administration.

“The bus tour three times a day within the capital of the Kurdistan Region, with its first stop being the historic Erbil Citadel located in the heart of the city,” Hamza Abubakr, a representative for one of the partner companies, told Kurdistan24 on Monday.

“Wherever the bus goes, the guides will provide information in three languages: Kurdish, Arabic, and English,” Abubakr added. “There will also be educational pamphlets in all three languages.”

On Monday, the bus launched its first tour inside Erbil as a test-run, which drew the attention of foreign and local people in the city.

“It is a fantastic tour bus. I find it very interesting and stimulating to see different famous and beautiful scenes in Erbil,” said an Arab tourist who came from the south of Iraq as he sat on the second-floor of the bus.

“It is an excellent initiative to bring such buses for tourists to Erbil. I hope the number of such buses will increase in the Kurdistan Region to include all cities,” said a local Kurdish man sat on the bus with his two children.

The geographic location of the Kurdistan Region has made its environment and nature stand apart from the rest of Iraq, especially during the changing of seasons.

According to the tourism sector of the KRG, the number of the visitors is on the rise over the past few years, leading the KRG to focus on the industry and develop it as a source of revenue for the Region.

Editing by G.H. Renaud

(Diyari Shekha contributed to this report)