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2014 Tourism Capital is Erbil in the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq says Arab Council of Tourism



Erbil is the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq. KRG is landlocked with the rest of Iraq to the south, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west, and Iran to the east. Erbil has been appointed the 2014 tourism capital by the Arab Council of Tourism, winning against three other cities—Beirut, Taif, and Sharjah—at the council’s Cairo conference in October 2012.

Part of the selection criteria was to present 40 different activities that the city will host throughout 2014. Erbil included national activities that focus on its food and culture as well as seasonal ones. Twelve cinemas are currently being built at the super–sized Family Mall in preparation for an international film festival. To accommodate the expected influx of tourists in 2014 (expected to reach 4 million over the full year) the government aims to increase the number of hotels. It says Erbil will have seven world class hotels with many more hotels and motels catering for different family budgets. It already has some world class hotels, such as the Sheraton, Divan, and Rotana.

The Kurdistan Region of Iraq has five administrative levels: the central administration with its own parliament (established in Erbil in 1970); three governorates (Erbil, Duhok, and Sulamaniyah); 30 districts; 99 sub-districts; and 5,700 villages – with a total population of 4.7 million (2009 figures).

Erbil has a population of 1.5 million. Erbil (often written as Arbil or Irbil) is also known as Hewler (pronounced how-lair) which means “four Gods.” The capital’s population is diverse and therefore the current coalition government consists of Chaldean, Assyrian, Turkmen, Yazidis, and Kurd representatives. The official languages in parliament are Kurdish and Arabic, but it promotes linguistic diversity. Kurdish is in the same family of languages as Persian and Pashto.

For the information of prospective tourists, English is spoken in KRG and signs are also in English. In 2005, the government introduced English language into the primary curriculum, and private courses are also offered. I have met many residents of KRG who have studied languages, or travelled abroad - primarily for work - and speak several languages, such as German and Russian.

Erbil has a new, award-winning international airport, built next to the old one. The new airport began construction in July 2003 and was fully operational two years later. The airport is located close to Erbil, and a short taxi drive to the city centre.

http://krg.org and http://www.erbilairport.net




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