Chill out in Duhok, a popular winter playground for tourists

By Ayub Nasri

Covered in snow, hoteliers and restaurateurs in Duhok hope to expand their tourism season, catering to Iraqis who have never seen snow in real life. 

“People like to go into the snow in winter. We don’t have such landscapes because there is no snow in Mosul,” said tourist Mustafa Mohammed. 

“If there are more services, more people will come here,” he added. 

With their tourism sector growing by 30 percent, Duhok’s tourism directory has plans to develop snow-bound attractions, both through the public sector and also by supporting the private sector. 

“Our tourists, especially Arabs, like to see these beautiful landscapes. For that reason we plan to open some attractive snowy tourism places in Duhok,” said Ubaidullah Dawd, general director of Duhok Tourism.

Though the heavy snow has temporarily closed some roads in the province, it could also be an economic boon.