- By : Mr. Bindu Bijimon
- Date: 01-08-2013
- Views : 2252
- [Dahuk, Iraq]
Iraqi officials are keen to cast the country’s tourist net beyond annual pilgrimages from neighbouring countries and believe visitor numbers can be expanded threefold.
Iraq sees an average of about two million tourists a year, but with developments and improvements, that number could be raised to six million, Baha al-Mayahi, a senior adviser to the Iraqi tourism ministry, told the AFP.
The capital city of Baghdad, the second largest city in the Arab world following Cairo with a population of over 7 million, sees a regular flow of visitors to its shrines and mosques. The country hosts millions of Shiite Muslims on pilgrimages to its various holy sites, from Samarra in the north, about 125 kilometres north of Baghdad, to Basra in the south, the country’s second largest city.
But tourists have been deterred from visiting the country following continued violence, including Iraq’s most sustained wave of bloodshed in half a decade this year, resulting in the deaths of more than 2,600 people since the beginning of April.
Despite other obstacles - including the country’s poor infrastructure and a complex visa system - a few tour operators have been arranging trips to Iraq.
