The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) aims to attract 4 million tourists in 2015 as part of an ambitious programme to capitalise on the growing interest in economic prospects in the three northern provinces of Iraq, the MEED Hotel & Tourism Investment Conference in Erbil was told on 10 June.

“Developing the tourism sector and a sustainable tourism industry is a major priority for the Kurdistan Regional Government,” deputy minister of municipalities and tourism in the KRG Khasraw Ahmad said. “We have strategic goals to increase the number of tourists to four million and the number of hotel rooms to 30,000 by 2015, raising the annual tourism income by then to $1.5bn.”

Ahmad said that the KRG had a “robust” strategy to support the private sector. Plans include setting up tourism finance institutions, providing land and establishing tax incentives.

“Establishing and maintaining a free market is our government’s priority because we believe it is the best way to support the development of the Kurdistan region,” Ahmad said.