Kurdistan region attracts 5 million tourists, surpassing $1 billion in revenue for 2023

ERBIL, September 7 — The Kurdistan region’s Tourism Authority announced on Wednesday that approximately 5 million tourists had visited the region during the first six months of 2023, with 80% of them coming from central and southern Iraq, and generated more than $1 billion in revenue for the burgeoning sector.

Officials recently hosted a tourism and investment conference in Erbil, with the aim of increasing revenue and trade volume in the future. Investors from Gulf countries are showing interest in investing in Kurdistan.

Sirwan Tofiq, the Marketing Director of the Tourism Authority, stated: “The number of incoming tourists has increased during this year, with the majority of them coming from central and southern regions of Iraq, representing 80% of the total number. The remaining 20% are foreign tourists. A total of 4,763,597 tourists visited the Kurdistan region during the first half of this year.”

“The tourism sector’s revenue reached $1,198,899,000, with an average expenditure of approximately $250 per tourist during each visit,” he added.