Iraq
Tourists wait at Baghdad International Airport on June 6, 2022. File photo: Bilind T. Abdullah/ Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Approximately "60 percent" of hotels and restaurants across Iraq have been forced to close following the weeks-long war of the United States and Israel against Iran, a tourism association said on Sunday, warning of a direct blow to the country's economy.
“The tourism and hotel sector in Iraq has entered an unprecedented downturn due to airport closures and the suspension of travel, directly impacting occupancy rates and revenues,” said Daoud Shammo, head of the Al-Rafidain Association for Tourism Promotion, during a conference on the state of the sector and potential solutions.
Shammo added that the downturn in tourism has left the sector “facing a real challenge,” warning that it has led to the collapse of a “large number of tourism facilities,” disrupted religious tourism, and dealt a direct blow to the economy.
The tourism sector's downturn comes after the country closed its airspace on February 28, following the launch of a large-scale United States and Israeli military campaign against Iran. In response, Tehran and allied armed groups have carried out drone and missile attacks targeting US and Israeli-linked sites across the region.
The shutdown of Iraq’s airspace forced travelers onto land routes, halting a key international transit corridor until it reopened 40 days later, following the announcement of a fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran.
Iraq’s culture minister, Ahmed Fakak al-Badrani, said at the conference that the country “was not a party to the war; rather, it fell upon our neighbor Iran and caused severe damage.” He attributed the disruption to aircraft, drones, and missiles passing through Iraqi airspace, adding, “What took years to build has been heavily impacted by these events.”
Shammo called on the ministry of culture to include the tourism sector in the Central Bank’s support initiative, which currently backs the real estate, agriculture, and industrial sectors to sustain their operations. He added that the recent downturn has led to “the layoff of thousands of workers and the loss of job opportunities,” stressing that it “necessitates serious action to find equitable solutions.”
Transportation ministry spokesperson Maytham al-Safi told Rudaw earlier this month that Iraqi airspace closure caused significant financial losses, saying that before the closure, approximately 750 to 850 international flights passed through Iraqi airspace daily, with total losses amounting to around $14.4 million.
According to figures from the Rudaw Research Center, the Kurdistan Region’s revenue losses due to the airspace closure reached $290 million in March and $121 million in the first 10 days of April, bringing the total estimated loss to more than $416 million.
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