- Title: UAE/FILE: Marketing Iraq as tourist destination is no easy task, says authority
- Date: 5th May 2011
- Summary: KERBALA, IRAQ (FILE - JULY 28, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LARGE CROWDS OUTSIDE IMAM HUSSEIN SHRINE IN KERBALA CLOSE OF GOLDEN DOME AND MINARETS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ENTERING SHRINE UR, IRAQ (FILE - SEPTEMBER 19, 2010) (REUTERS) ZIGGURAT OF UR VARIOUS OF WESTERN TOURISTS AT UR RUINS HOR AL-HAMMAR MARSHLAND, SOUTHERN IRAQ (FILE - MARCH 21, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BOATS IN MARSH AREA MAN CONTROLLING SMALL ENGINE ON BOAT MAN USING LONG WOODEN POLE TO DOCK BOAT PEOPLE WALKING NEAR NEW DOCK COMPLEX BUILDING BABYLON, IRAQ (FILE - 2009) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ISHTAR GATE REPLICA AT ENTRANCE TO BABYLON RUINS BABYLON RUINS CRACKED WALL WITH ANCIENT DECORATED BRICKS VARIOUS OF LION OF BABYLON STATUE MORE OF BABYLON SITE
- Embargoed: 20th May 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA2N724LHNNTXQOJQ20VCN0J5ZB
- Story Text: Amongst the smart airline stands at the Middle East section of the popular Travel Market exhibition in Dubai sits an exhibit stand with a tough mission, that of marketing war-torn Iraq as a tourist destination.
Posters of well-known archaeological monuments dating to the Assyrian and Babylonian civilizations look down on guests visiting the stand owned by al-Rafidain company, a private firm working on behalf of Iraq's government to promote the country as a major tourist destination.
Since 2003, religious tourism in the country has boomed as Saddam Hussein's downfall saw the country's majority Shi'ites free to mark religious occasions. Religious tourism currently accounts for up to 95 percent of the total number of foreign visitors to the country.
According to Fadhil al-Saaegh, owner and Managing Director of al-Rafidain, some 150,000 visitors enter Iraq every month, averaging at 1.5 to 2 million a year, most of whom go to visit holy Shi'ite shrines in the cities of Najaf, Kufa, Kerbala, Samarra and Baghdad.
But al-Saaegh hopes to expand Iraq's appeal to other tourism sectors.
"The goal behind our participation is to promote tourism other than religious tourism which is thriving in Iraq. As you know Iraq is blessed with many archaeological, natural and leisurely sites, Iraq has thousands of historical sites, some unknown and unheard of before," he said.
The site of ancient Mesopotamia, and regarded by some as the birthplace of civilisation, writing, agriculture and codified law, Iraq is steeped in history and boasts numerous historical and archaeological sites.
Tourism began to die with international sanctions imposed against Saddam's regime in the 1990s and screeched to a halt with the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
Overall violence in Iraq has dropped sharply since the peak of sectarian conflict in 2006-2007, but attacks still occur daily.
As violence began to ebb in recent years, tourism officials began to hope. But since the first westerner tourists visited ancient sites in the country in March 2009, Iraq has counted only 165 foreign tourists.
"The main obstruction for the western and European tourists is security. The common perception is that the security situation is very bad, but no on the contrary, we are facing a real problem, which is if people don't take initiatives and seek to know the real situation on the ground then he or she can't make a sound judgement," said al-Saaegh, who blames low numbers on the media, which he says exaggerates the violence in the country, and on the government, which he says has not invested enough into promoting tourism.
Al-Saaegh said tourism in the country can help Iraq diversify its economy and lessen its dependency on its massive oil reserves.
"Tourism is a river of gold. If Iraq's petrol (oil) is its economy's main artery, we as representatives of the tourism sector believe that, if tourism was properly developed, the monetary and economic returns will be equivalent to the monetary and economic returns of oil. The tourist landmarks in Iraq are unrivalled anywhere else."
Iraq boasts some 12,000 discovered historical sites, chief among them Babylon, 85 miles south of Baghdad, Namroud in northern Mosul, the medieval Islamic city of Samarra and the ancient Sumerian city of Ur in southern Nassiriya province. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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