ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Over four million tourists visited the Kurdistan Region’s provinces this year, with the capital city of Erbil receiving the lion’s share, the Region’s tourism board said on Thursday.
“Erbil province scored first in receiving tourists as 1,975,000 tourists (48 percent) visited,” the board announced in a statement.
Sulaimani and Halabja provinces together hosted 1,375,000 tourists (34 percent) and Duhok province received 754,000 tourists (18 percent) throughout 2021, the board added.
The total number of the tourists was 4,093,888, with most drawing from Iraqi central and southern provinces.
Tourism in the Kurdistan Region has been a booming sector in recent years, but it was hit by coronavirus-related measures in 2020. This year, the easing of these measures has helped the sector to gradually recover.
Khayri Ali, head of Duhok’s tourism directorate, told Rudaw on Thursday that 60 new hotels, motels and restaurants for tourism purposes were established in the province in 2021.
Tourists from areas under federal control often visit the Kurdistan Region via buses.
