In Kurdistan Region, Many Tourists but Little Accommodation

[Aslan]

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Some 316,000 visitors spent this month’s Eid holidays in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region, but many had to sleep in public parks and the streets due to a shortage of hotel rooms.

The number of visitors was 21 percent higher than last year and the majority chose the capital Erbil as their destination, according to the official tourism department.

It said that many of the tourists were Arabs from the Middle East and southern Iraq, marking an 11 percent increase over last year in the number of domestic arrivals. The number of arrivals from abroad was up by 25 percent.

According to the Association of Hotels and Restaurants, there are around 43,000 beds in the different hotels and resorts in the Kurdistan Region – one-seventh of the number needed to accommodate the Eid numbers.

Many visitors reported sleeping in their cars or in public parks.

“I came to Shaqlawa on the first day of Eid but spent the night sleeping next to my car on the street because my search for a vacant room was futile,” said Raad Ahmed, a tourist from southern Iraq.

Tourism department spokesperson Nadir Rosti told Rudaw that, “Two days prior to Eid and on the first day of Eid 150,000 tourists entered the Kurdistan Region -- 50,000 to Erbil, 22,000 to Sulaimani, 24,000 to Duhok and 9,000 to Garmiyan,”

He said that the number of arrivals totaled 316,000 on the third day of Eid.

“Not all the tourists go to hotels. Some have friends and relatives here, especially visitors from southern Iraq,” said Herish Ahmed, head of the Association of Hotels and Restaurants.

“They also may not stay for the entire three days of Eid and the hotels usually increase the number of beds in the high seasons,” said Rosti.

Last year, around 2.2 million people visited the Kurdistan Region, Rosti said, each spending up to an estimated $400, and adding to the government’s tourism revenues.