Iraqi tourism is being revived after six years of U.S. occupation

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Erbil Citadel, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan

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The natural and historic beauty of Iraq made it a tourist hotspot with sites and destinations to satisfy even the most experienced of travelers. Humming bazaars, the smells of local restaurants, beautiful mosques, and omnipresent antiquity lured many travelers to pay a visit to this jewel of the Middle East. However, after the onset of violence sparked by the American invasion in 2003, most Western nations posted travel alerts, advising against all travel to Iraq. The majority of these travel warnings have not been taken down ever since. The travel alerts on the website of the U.S. Department of State read, “Despite recent improvements in the security environment, Iraq remains dangerous, volatile and unpredictable. Attacks against military and civilian targets throughout Iraq continue,” while their Canadian counterparts warn, “Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada advises against all travel to Iraq.”

In the wake of the 2003 invasion, the tourism industry in Iraq has been reduced to virtually nothing. But six years down the road, despite continuing security concerns, the country is attempting to revive what was once an important and profit-bearing industry. 

As the result, a group of Western tourists from Britain, the Unites States and Canada ventured to visit Iraq on a first organized tour since 2003.

In July of 2008, a Travel and Tourism Fair took place in Karbala, and a festival in Baghdad. The chief of Iraq's tourism board, Hamoud Mohsen al-Yacoubi, said he was confident that these promotional events would make profound steps forward in advertising Iraqi tourism.

Among the things that Iraq’s tourism officials plan to undertake in the near future are:

--six-star hotel on the Tigris River
--golf courses
--the "Baghdad Eye," which is to be taller than the largest Ferris wheel in Europe, the London Eye
--new airport in Najaf to bring more religious pilgrims visiting Shiite shrines with a $30 billion tourist town in Najaf
--the "Gardens Town" (including a huge playground which will be set up north of Baghdad on an area estimated at 650 acres. It will have 14 different gardens at a cost in the excess of $300 million)

I am left wondering though as to who is funding such a buoyant revival of the tourism industry in Iraq and whether these funds would be better used if they were diverted to improving social programs and the health care system in Iraq instead.