Over the past four decades, Iraq’s Habbaniyah resort has hosted actors, singers, Saddam Hussein, and, more recently, a camp housing families displaced by the Islamic State (ISIS). Now, the government hopes its restoration will boost the local economy. 

The tourist area, with a hotel and dozens of bungalows, is built on the shores Lake Habbaniyah, west of Ramadi in Anbar province. Between 2014 and 2017, it sheltered thousands of families displaced from central and southern Iraq. 

After the defeat of ISIS, the displaced families returned home and the tourists have returned. 

“We are renovating Habbaniyah tourist city in a way to attract both local and foreign tourists. More than 100,000 tourists visit this place annually. It’s a bustling place and accommodations will be booked out,” said Adnan Abdullah Bardan, Anbar’s deputy governor.

With renovations underway, the goal is to “create an exceptional tourist city that will revitalize the economy of our province,” he added.