PHOTO
A tent is set on the sand by Iraqi campers in the Samawa desert south of Baghdad on February 3, 2024. Far from the hustle and bustle of major cities, young Iraqis are increasingly taking advantage of a renewed sense of safety to explore the country's serene desert getaways. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP)
Iraq's Tourism Authority is working on a plan to attract one million tourists to its archaeological sites over the next five years, a senior government official has said.
The plan will be submitted to the tourism ministry soon, Nasser Ghanem Murad, head of the Tourism Authority, to Ashraq Business, an Arabic financial portal.
He said the government is paying special attention to developing archaeological sites across the various Iraqi cities such as Baghdad, Mosul, Babylon, and Ur, among others.
Murad said that Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, needs 30,000 four- and five-star hotel rooms to accommodate its ambitious target of tourist numbers.
He added that new hotels are being built with investments of more than $200 million, which will be managed by global hospitality chains such as Movenpick, Rixos and others, the report said.
(Writing by P Deol; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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