Iraq launches 2035 tourism strategy targeting 10 million visitors

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Tourism Authority revealed the details of its comprehensive National Tourism Strategy stretching through 2035, aiming to attract 10 million international visitors to the country’s historical and heritage sites. Senior officials confirmed that the federal Cabinet officially approved the vision, establishing an ambitious roadmap to overhaul the country’s hospitality infrastructure and encourage competitive investments in international-standard dining and hotel facilities.

Ali Yasin Abdul-Ridha, Director of Relations and Media and official spokesperson for the Tourism Authority, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that the extensive blueprint was engineered in direct collaboration with a specialized German organization.

Abdul-Ridha explained that the 2035 strategy relies on the core principles of inclusivity and integration, operating under the philosophy that tourism is a comprehensive state-wide project. The multi-year plan calls for upgrading basic infrastructure, restoring major tourist attraction sites, and training human resources. By doing so, the state aims to boost tourism’s contribution to the national gross domestic product (GDP), protect Iraq’s cultural heritage, and strengthen the national identity.

To operationalize the roadmap, the Tourism Authority will print and translate the strategy document into both Arabic and English. This will be followed by a series of specialized workshops across all provinces, including the Kurdistan Region, to debate implementation mechanisms with local stakeholders and industry experts.

Abdul-Ridha highlighted that expanding the tourism industry offers Iraq a vital economic alternative amid ongoing regional wars and conflicts, capitalizing on the country’s diverse assets across religious, historical, natural, and cultural sectors.

Reviewing internal tourism metrics during the recent Eid al-Adha holiday, the spokesperson noted that rising summer temperatures drove massive waves of domestic travelers toward the northern resort districts of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Duhok.

Simultaneously, southern religious tourism saw heavy foot traffic in Najaf, while the capital city of Baghdad recorded notable attendance at the Baghdad Tourist Island alongside various local resorts and entertainment parks.

This heavy holiday traffic yielded exceptionally high occupancy rates for hotels in both the Kurdistan Region and Najaf, with formal crisis cells reporting zero operational breakdowns or security issues during the festive period.

Abdul-Ridha concluded by highlighting the ongoing transformation across local hospitality markets, noting that a massive surge in new restaurant openings in Baghdad has triggered healthy commercial competition, driving down consumer prices while drawing international investors to build modern, globally benchmarked hotel properties.

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المصدر: Iraqi News