Shafaq News– Duhok

Tourist arrivals to Iraqi Kurdistan’s Duhok province were “very low” over the New Year holiday compared with previous years, the province’s Hotels and Restaurants Association said on Wednesday.

Speaking to Shafaq News, Ihsan Sheikh Issa, head of the Association, attributed the decline partly to Baghdad not granting a “long enough holiday” to schools and state offices, which he said limited families’ ability to plan trips. He also cited the absence of large public events.

Hotels and restaurants in Duhok will hold private celebrations in their halls on Wednesday night, Sheikh Issa noted, adding that owners had prepared to receive customers.

In 2024, 8 million tourists visited the Kurdistan Region, up from 7 million in 2023, according to the Region’s tourism board, which said that annual arrivals have exceeded 2 million since 2022 and that more than $3.5 billion has been invested in tourism projects.

Read more: Discover Kurdistan: The Middle East's best-kept travel secret