Iraq's Kurdistan welcomed +6 million tourists in 2022: Official

Shafaq News/ The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Saturday said it expects the annual tourist arrivals to surpass the threshold of six million by the end of 2022.

KRG's media department said in a statement that the ninth cabinet passed a law on tourism in order to help this vital sector overcome the problem it faces in the Kurdistan region.

According to the region's tourism commission, four million persons visited the Kurdistan region in the first half of 2022.

The tourism directorate in al-Sulaymaniyah said that 2.548 million tourists visited the governorate during the past 12 months. The statement said that the tourists who flocked into al-Sulaymaniyah in the last few days of the outgoing month were not included in the count.

Last year, only 1.478 million tourists checked in al-Sulaymaniyah.

According to the Asaish directorate Erbil, more than 10,000 tourists have entered the capital city of the Kurdistan region via the Sherawa and Khazar checkpoints that connect it with Kirkuk and Mosul, respectively.

In a statement to Shafaq News Agency, Erbil's Governor Omed Khoshnaw said, "preparations are underway for the new year celebrations. A set of security measures have been put into force in conjunction with those preparations."

The Kurdistan region receives tens of thousands of tourists from Iraq's central and southern governorates during the new year holidays. It harbors a plethora of tourist sites and recreational centers. Erbil is considered among the oldest cities in the world and is currently believed to be a hub for a variety of economic, commercial, and touristic activities.

Kurdistan's blend of old meets new -from its mosques to fun parks, picturesque nature, lively nightlife, and elegant hotels- appeal to both the young and the old. The region boasts a top designer-label shopping experience in many of its malls and is home to the Erbil Citadel, one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world.