Over 2 million tourists visited Kurdistan Region in 2021: Official
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Over the past several months, the Kurdistan Region has hosted more than two million tourists visiting its mountainous resort areas, according to an official tally released on Thursday.
The number of tourists in 2021 witnessed a 31 percent surge when compared to last year’s figures, as reported by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s Department of Media and Information.
The government agency did not break down where all the visitors were from, but a majority of known tourists hail from either Iraqi provinces outside the autonomous Kurdistan Region or from Iran.
Residents of central and southern Iraq regularly brave hours of waiting at high-security provincial checkpoints to flock to the Kurdistan Region's four provinces of Erbil, Sulaimani, Duhok, and Halabja during the sweltering summer heat. The largest numbers of visitors come to experience improved security and charming mountainous landscapes during the multi-day holidays of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Aha.
During 2021,
— Jotiar Adil (@KRGSpokesperson) September 23, 2021
2,423,658 tourists visited the #Kurdistan Region.
Number of tourists coming to Kurdistan Region has soared by 31% this year. pic.twitter.com/ZOgWImNpae
Tourism, like all other sectors affected by COVID-19 restrictions, saw dramatically reduced income as the pandemic spread around the nation.
To compensate for the losses the sector had suffered, the KRG exempted tourist facilities from taxation for a period of two months during which they received no tourists due to the regionwide travel ban that stopped would be visitors before the ever boarded a bus or a plane.
Read More: Kurdistan temporarily exempts tourism sector from taxes to offset COVID-19 losses
The Region has 784 hotels and other tourism accommodations: 384 in Erbil province, 240 in Sulaimani, and 160 in Duhok.