ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A “record number” of tourists are expected to visit the Kurdistan Region for Newroz festivities this week, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Tourism Board – welcome news for the Region’s hospitality sector.
“It is expected that a record number of holidaymakers will visit the Kurdistan Region to spend Newroz holidays,” Nadir Bradosti, spokesperson of the Kurdistan Region Tourism Board, told Rudaw.
Newroz, the Kurdish New Year, is celebrated annually on March 21. Although it is linked to the Persian calendar, it traces its origins to ancient Zoroastrian culture, and has become an important political statement for Kurds worldwide.
Some 243,000 tourists visited the Region for Newroz last year, according to the board’s own data.
Bradosti said his department has laid out a five-year strategy to capitalize on Newroz and other seasonal tourism events.
“We are already working on the strategy. This is the first year and we are aiming to make a great media promotion for it and introduce it [to tourists],” he added.
Across the Kurdistan Region there are at least 63,000 hotels, motels, and guesthouses, together offering an estimated 70,000 beds, according to the board’s data.
Newroz has been marred for several successive years by financial woe, the war with Islamic State (ISIS), and tensions between the governments in Erbil and Baghdad. With the Region now enjoying a period of comparative calm, hoteliers are glad to see their reservation books filling up.
And with rising demand comes rising prices.
“Many have booked with us. People have called us one month before Newroz requesting to book rooms,” said Sherzad Fakhri, a hotel manager in Sulaimani. “They know if they do not make early bookings, they will not be able to book it late.”
“The prices have slightly increased. This is the nature of hotels and is the case across the world,” Fakhri added.
Shkur Aziz, deputy head of the Erbil branch of the KRG Restaurants and Guesthouses Group said the hikes are only temporary and that hotels will remain “committed” to the stability of prices.