200K tourists expected during New Year holiday: KRG tourism spox

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Ibrahim Abdulmajid, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region General Board of Tourism, on Saturday told Kurdistan24 that more than 200,000 tourists are expected to visit the Kurdistan Region during the capital’s New Year’s Day celebration.

The spokesperson also said that they have prepared tourist guides in seven widely-spoken languages. 

“3,500 applicants have applied to become tour guides and interviews have been conducted with these applicants,” Abdulmajid stated, while later referencing the bilingual nature of the role.

Earlier, he told Kurdistan24 that the Christmas and New Year celebrations in Erbil province will be suspended in honor of the victims of the Hamdaniya and Soran tragedies.

The extent of the cancellations has been disputed and unclear, as the province’s Christmas Festival had been ongoing since Dec. 13 up until the holiday. Rather, select activities organized by the Chaldean Church and the government have been canceled, while celebrations organized by private sector companies are still scheduled to proceed.

Moreover, Erbil governor Omed Khoshnaw has announced that hooliganism and sexual offenders during the New Year celebration “will be punished,” with offenders facing arrest. 

Read More: Over 500k tourists visited Erbil in five months, says tourism official

The remark comes as the province has developed a reputation for a high incidence of sexual offense crimes during the holiday, with its police directorate ratcheting up measures in the past few years to prevent the predatory trend.

Despite hurdles such as the war on ISIS and the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kurdistan Region’s tourism industry has continued to expand, with a record six million tourists visiting in 2022, a 35% increase from 2021.

Editing by Dastan Muwaffaq