Over 117,000 tourists visit Erbil during Eid holiday

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - More than 117,000 tourists visit Erbil over the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, according to official figures released on Thursday. 

A total of 117,421 tourists visited Erbil.

"The Erbil general tourism directorate's plans for the holidays have been successfully implemented," the Erbil governorate's office said.

According to the governorate, the plans included establishing committees tasked with providing essential services to visitors at checkpoints and monitoring their conditions at various tourist attractions.

With its relatively moderate temperatures in comparison to the rest of the country and its varied, beautiful nature, the Kurdistan Region is a popular tourist destination. Millions of visitors come every year, according to data from the tourism board. 

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) plans to expand the sector as it diversifies the economy away from a dependency on oil and aims to attract 20 million tourists per year by 2030. Over 7.2 million people visited the Kurdistan Region in 2023.

Iraq has very hot summers, particularly in the south, which regularly experiences temperatures around 50 degrees Celsius. However, a lack of access to basic services such as water and electricity makes it difficult for people to cope with the heat. 

The bulk of holidaymakers visiting the Kurdistan Region come from the southern and central provinces of Iraq.
 

Reporting by Didar Abdalrahman