Erbil’s Big Challenge: Tourists vs. Locals

That same attack also led to a clamp down on border security that saw many Arab visitors from Iraq denied entry to Iraqi Kurdistan.

To reverse that trend, Iraqi Kurdish authorities have decided to exempt citizens of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait from a visa fee.

“It’s only natural that at first most of the visitors should be from Iraq itself,” says Aswad Qader, a consultant for the tourism industry. “And that’s a good beginning. It will eventually encourage tourists from elsewhere to visit.”

In fact, Rosti told NIQASH that between 2012 and 2013, Iraqi Kurdistan had seen a 30 percent rise in the number of visitors coming there. He said more than 3 million tourists are expected in 2014 and that their research indicates that each visitor spends around US$300 in the region.

“This will increase tourism revenues in Iraqi Kurdistan and that will benefit our citizens and the private sector. The benefits will then flow on into the private sector,” Rosti says.

Local economist Ayoub Samarqaei was not so sure. He described the statistics as propaganda. There’s confusion about the number of visitors coming here, he explained, because everyone who enters the region at airports and over land is registered as a tourist. But in fact ,many of the Iraqis coming from elsewhere in the country are coming to find work and homes as they seek escape from the violence that plagues the rest of the country. Or they’re poor ad just come for some entertainment and a respite, he adds.

“Those who come from other areas of Kurdistan are not tourists,” he points out. “They are hardly likely to spend US$300 either.”

Samarqaei also has some other fears about the effects of tourism on Iraqi Kurdistan in general. “Of course the owners of hotels and restaurants will make profits but the people on low and middle incomes will then be the first to suffer because the influx of tourists may cause a rise in prices,” he suggests. “Tourism could also bring problems."