Over 100K tourists visited Erbil so far, says governor

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Since June 19, the Kurdistan Region’s capital Erbil has hosted over 100,000 tourists from Iraqi provinces, the city’s governor told reporters.

Erbil Governor Omed Khoshnaw’s remarks came following the Eid al-Adha prayers he had performed along with over a thousand Muslims at the city’s grand Jalil Khayat Mosque in Erbil early Wednesday.

“Up until yesterday evening, over 100,000 tourists had visited Erbil province,” Khoshnaw said, adding the numbers are expected to increase in the coming days as the tourism flow is ongoing. 

The figures, covering June 19-27, have been collected from the province’s checkpoints with the Iraqi federal provinces, he said.

Necessary measures have been taken by all relevant authorities to host the tourists, according to the governor.

The head of the capital’s tourism authority has previously told Kurdistan 24 that they expect 500,000 tourists to visit the Kurdish province during the holiday.

Mostly coming from the federal province, the tourists flock to the Kurdistan Region’s resort areas to spend their Eid al-Adha holiday which is expected to continue until Saturday, July 1.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the federal government have both announced five day holiday to mark the Islamic festival, known as the Festival of Sacrifice, during which thousands of sacrificial animals are slaughtered to commemorate the event. 

More than six million tourists in total visited the Kurdistan Region in 2022.

In addition to the holiday season, thousands of domestic tourists from across Iraq visit the northern Kurdistan Region, known for its mountain resorts and relatively cool temperatures, to escape the scorching summer heat weather in southern Iraq. 

The KRG has proposed plans to further boost the tourism sector as an alternative to diversify its reliance on hydrocarbon revenues. The plan includes an eight-year-long strategy to attract 20 million tourists annually.

The government launched an electronic visa application system early this year in a bid to facilitate investment and tourists traffic into the Kurdish region.