ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Coronavirus pandemic fears will no longer be a reason for Kurdistan Region tourist resorts to be ordered shut, a tourism ministry spokesperson told Rudaw English on Saturday. “It will no longer be decided that resorts in the Kurdistan Region will close because we have all come to understand that we have to live with the virus and make our economy stronger,” said Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) tourism board spokesperson Nadir Rusti. A decision to keep tourist sites open marks a distinct change from KRG interior ministry orders for temporary shutdowns of resorts when coronavirus numbers have peaked. Resorts in Duhok province have been subject to some of the most long-running and stringent closures over the course of the pandemic, which reached the Kurdistan Region in March. The latest province-ordered closures to resorts was early this month in Erbil, when it saw record-breaking single-day numbers for coronavirus cases. Both Erbil and Duhok provinces still do not allow group visits from Iraqi provinces outside the Kurdistan Region, but one tourism official told Rudaw that this restriction is likely to be relaxed this week. There is no available data on the economic losses Kurdistan Region tourism resorts have incurred because of the pandemic, or on the number of tourist trips taken in the Region for this year, Rusti said. However, tourist numbers have visibly plummeted, and pale in comparison to the 1.85 million Kurdistan Region tourist visits Rusti said were made between January and June of last year. The Region's tourism sector mainly relies on Arab visitors from areas under federal Iraqi control. Each tourist spends roughly $300 per visit, Rusti said, providing income to tourism workers and to the KRG. The tourism ministry said resorts across the Kurdistan Region would be allowed to reopen to visitors from KRG-controlled areas from August 20. Footage captured by Rudaw on Friday showed resorts brimming with visitors, even though coronavirus case numbers are showing no sign of letting up. In flagrance of KRG-issued health guidelines, most visitors in the footage are seen without a face mask, or latex gloves. Some could also be seen holding hands and dancing. Asked about large visitor crowds and the absence of masks and gloves on resort visitors, spokesperson Rusti said that imposing social distancing at some sites is virtually impossible, though tourism officials “have managed to impose the health measures elsewhere.” “We have also given instructions to resorts, especially when it comes to wearing face masks," Rusti said. "We have told them that they should make masks available, for free or with charge, at site entrances." To date, the Kurdistan Region has recorded over 27,000 coronavirus cases, according to KRG health ministry figures. Deaths of those who contracted the coronavirus surpassed 1,000 on Friday afternoon.
