ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Approximately 240,000 people, mostly from Iraq’s central and southern provinces, visited the Kurdistan Region during the New Year holiday, according to figures collected by Rudaw on Saturday.
“During the New Year holidays, 88,341 tourists visited areas of Erbil province,” Erbil Governor Omed Xoshnaw told Rudaw.
The holiday began on January 25 and ended on Saturday.
Goran Qadir, spokesperson for Sulaimani’s tourism directorate, said more than 70,000 tourists visited the province. He added that most of the tourists came from Iraq’s southern and central provinces.
Shamal Hirori, spokesperson for Duhok’s tourism office, told Rudaw that at least 50,000 people visited the province during the ten-day holiday.
“Of this, 5,000 stayed in hotels. Some stayed for a short period and visited other areas, while others went to the Zakho administration,” he noted.
Hawraman Jalal, director of media and communications at Halabja’s tourism directorate said nearly 30,000 tourists visited the province.
He too said most of the tourists came from areas under the federal control.
Ibrahim Abdulmajeed, spokesperson for Kurdistan Region’s tourism board, said they have yet to collect a final figure about the number of tourists who visited the Region but expected the number to be at least 200,000.
Abdulmajeed told Rudaw in December that they expected more than 200,000 tourists to visit the Kurdistan Region during the holiday.
Over the past five years, the Kurdistan Region has implemented 80 strategic tourism projects, totaling $7.5 billion in investment, including hotels, motels, and large tourist complexes.