Kurdistan Region Tourism Board Tightens Enforcement of Kurdish Language Requirement
Spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region's Tourism Board also outlined plans to support foreign workers in the tourism industry by introducing Kurdish language courses to help them quickly learn the language.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The Kurdish language remains a top priority for the Kurdistan Region's tourism sector, with authorities requiring all tourism businesses to use Kurdish on commercial signage and official service documents, a senior tourism official said on Tuesday.
Speaking to Kurdistan24, Ibrahim Abdulmajid, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region's Tourism Board, said a high-level committee has been established to implement Decision No. 172 across all sectors. During its latest meeting, the committee reaffirmed that at least 75% of employees in the tourism sector must be local workers.
Abdulmajid said the Tourism Board immediately began enforcing the decision, which was originally issued in 2022. According to the board's data, more than 80% of employees currently working in the tourism sector are citizens of the Kurdistan Region.
Highlighting efforts to strengthen the use of Kurdish, Abdulmajid said all tourism establishments are legally required to display Kurdish on their names, signboards, and official service documents. He noted that inspection teams regularly monitor compliance and take swift action whenever businesses use only foreign languages on their signage.
"The Kurdish language is a red line for the Tourism Board," Abdulmajid said, stressing that businesses failing to comply with the language requirement will not receive or renew their tourism service licenses.
He added that authorities have already made significant progress in implementing the policy, with the vast majority of tourism facilities now displaying Kurdish alongside other languages.
Abdulmajid also outlined plans to support foreign workers in the tourism industry by introducing Kurdish language courses to help them quickly learn the language. The initiative will be accompanied by training programs aimed at enhancing the skills of local employees and expanding the capacity of the Kurdistan Region's workforce to meet the growing demands of the tourism sector.
The language policy aligns with a broader Kurdistan Regional Government directive announced on Feb. 21, 2023, requiring all public establishments to display their main signs in Kurdish, with businesses given 40 days to comply.