Skip to main content

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




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...
1 comment
Read more

Apes go to the movies - and remember the scenes

Apes remember major events in movies, even after a single viewing. That’s the findings of primate research in Japan (New Scientist, September 17, 2015). Researchers at the Kyoto University in Japan conducted experiments with two species of apes – chimpanzees and bonobo primates – to test their memory and recall. Instead of using food to test memory, they used films. The researchers made two short movies to show to the apes. Fumihiro Kano and his colleague, Satoshi Hirata, starred in the films with another person dressed as an ape. They wanted to have strong dramatic scenes to see if the apes remembered them. In the first 30-second movie the character ape bursts through a door on the right hand side (there is also a door on the left hand side) and attacks the two researchers (characters) 18 seconds after the start. After 24 seconds a human character choses one of two weapons next to each other and launched a revenge attack on the ape. In the second 30-second movie t...
Post a Comment
Read more

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...
1 comment
Read more