ERBIL — A total of 146,898 tourists visited Erbil, Duhok, and Sulaymaniyah to spend New Year’s Eve in the Kurdistan Region, an official said.
The statistics include tourists from Iraq and foreign countries who entered the Kurdistan Region between 25-31 December 2021, Nadir Rusti, a spokesperson for the Board of Tourism said.
According to Rusti, over half of the tourists spent the holidays in Erbil province, which makes up 76,550 people.
A total of 38,734 tourists visited Duhok and 31,614 visited Sulaymaniyah, he added.
Thanks to its stunning landscapes and high security, the Kurdistan Region is emerging as a touristic hub in its neighborhood with millions of people visiting it on holidays.
It has been on the agenda of KRG’s 9th cabinet to develop the tourism sector by improving infrastructures in hopes of using it as a primary source of national revenue while trying to diversify its economy away from relying solely on oil.