Economy

Over 145,000 tourists visited Kurdistan during Christmas, New Year holidays: Official

Erbil province alone welcomed 76,550 tourists, the highest out of all three Kurdistan Region provinces, the official said.

Peshraw Mirany 2022/01/02 12:41

New Year's celebration in Erbil's citadel, Dec. 31, 2021. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

Kurdistan Tourism Erbil Kurdistan Region

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region hosted over 145,000 tourists during the New Year and Christmas holidays, an official told Kurdistan 24 on Sunday.

The figures are for seven days of the holiday season, between Dec. 25–31, said Nadr Rostayi, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Board of Tourism spokesperson.

Erbil province alone welcomed 76,550 tourists, the highest out of Sulaimani and Duhok provinces, Rostyai added.

Duhok hosted 38,734 tourists, while Sulaimani received more than 31,614 visitors during the same period, the official said, adding that most of the arrivals were from southern and central Iraqi provinces.

He also explained that the Kurdistan Region had more visitors in 2021 than the preceding year when tourism slowed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Famous for its snowy mountains in winter and cool weather in summer in the countryside, the Kurdish region has been a tourist hub for Iraqi tourists from federal provinces.

In 2021, two million tourists had visited the Kurdistan Region capital of Erbil, Rostayai has said earlier.