Economy

KRG, UNDP, USAID discuss reforming Kurdistan Region tourism

Despite efforts to attract regional and domestic tourists to the Region, the minister said, the Kurdistan Region’s tourism sector is at an “early stage” to host international visitors.

Kurdistan 24 2023/07/30 11:37

KRG, UNDP, USAID officials, along with diplomats and local authorities, are attending Launching Reform Roadmap for Tourism Sector, July 30, 2023. (Photo: KRG)

Kurdistan UNDP USAID Kurdistan Region

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region Government (KRG) is discussing a reform program for the tourism sector along with a United Nations development agency and a United States aid organization.

Attended by numerous locals, KRG officials, and diplomats, the Reform Roadmap for Tourism Sector was launched on Sunday in the capital Erbil in cooperation with UN Development Programme (UNDP) and US Agency for International Development (USAID).

The scheme has been worked on by the KRG Ministry of Municipalities and Tourism along with international organizations in the past six months, Minister Sasan Awni told Kurdistan 24 on Sunday.

Reforming the sector and making it one of the factors of economic development have been the top agenda of the KRG’s Ninth Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, Awni said.

Despite efforts to attract regional and domestic tourists to the Region, the minister said, the Kurdistan Region’s tourism sector has yet to be ready to host international visitors.

In 2022, the Region hosted more than six million tourists, most of whom are domestic visitors from the central and southern Iraqi provinces, according to tourism authority figures. A small percentage are from regional countries.

In addition to holiday periods, the scorching summer heat forces thousands of domestic tourists across Iraq to visit the resort areas in the northern Kurdish region, known for its mountainous areas and relatively cool temperatures.

Nearly 700,000 tourists visited the Region’s resorts during the Eid al-Adha holiday in late June, per official data.

The capital is home to some of the ancient sites of the country, including the Erbil Citadel, which is listed as one of the world heritage sites by the United Nations' cultural and educational agency, UNESCO.

There are nearly 5,000 heritage sites in the Kurdistan Region, according to the ministry.

Tourism officials have proposed plans to further boost the sector, through which the Kurdish region seeks to slash reliance on hydrocarbon sales. Per an eight-year-long scheme, the Region aims to attract 20 million tourists annually.

Additional reporting by Kurdistan 24 Erbil reporter Renas A. Saeed