Nadir Rusti, spokesperson for General Tourism Board told Rudaw that 2019 has so far seen a “considerable number of tourists,” and the government plan is to increase the numbers in the coming months and years.
Rusti said that the two-month program features tourist spots and activities available to visitors.
The first program is a snow festival on Korek Mountain which would include skiing, music concerts as well as art and cultural activities.
Coffee house in Erbil
Kurdish delegations are also planning to attend tourism events and fairs in neighboring Iran and Iraq to draw attention to what the Kurdistan Region has to offer.
In Sulaimani province where some of the natural wonders of Kurdistan are located such as Ahmed Awa, Sitak, Zewe and Dukan there will be a tourism forum on February 21.
The forum will host Iraqi tourism companies.
Erbil city has its own international tourism expo scheduled for March 17-20.
Tens of thousands of tourists from central and southern Iraq and from Iran visit the Kurdistan Region every year, particularly around official holidays.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) aims to reduce its dependence on oil by boosting other sources of income such as tourism and agriculture.
