Back to Baghdad? Recovering Iraq to emerge as 'exciting' new tourist destination

REPORTER

Historical riches: Iraq boasts fine archaeological sites, including the Ishtar Gate in Babylon


It is unlikely to be high up on your list of holiday destinations for summer 2011, but Iraq is poised to become a tourism hotspot, according to a travel industry report.

Tourism in the troubled Middle Eastern stat is growing rapidly, with airline and hotel capacity on the increase, according to the report released at World Travel Market, a major travel conference being held in London.

Millions of pounds have been invested in Iraq’s tourism infrastructure since the end of the US-led war in 2003.

Seven hundred new hotels are expected to have opened in the country by 2014.
Airlines, including Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines, have also started flying to the Middle Eastern country.

Iraq boasts some of the finest archaeological sites in the world and some of the holiest places in Islam.

From the ruins of Babylon to the historical riches of Baghdad, it is one the ancient cradles of civilization.

Last year, 1.3 million people visited Iraq. The majority were religious tourists, mainly from Iran.

World Travel Market Chairman Fiona Jeffery said: ‘Iraq is a diverse mix of history, culture and unique experiences all paving the way for its place as an exciting up and coming destination.’

The only UK travel company currently offering tours of the country is Hinterland Travel, based in Brighouse, West Yorkshire.

They offer a post-war tour of Iraq - or Mesopotamia, as they prefer to call it in their on-line brochure.

The tours cost between £1,780 and £2,800 and include the war-scarred capital Baghdad, and Basra, the scene of some of the heaviest fighting in the 2003 invasion.


Previously off-limits: Current tours of Iraq include Saddam Hussein's former palaces in Tikrit


The trips also include Ur, believed to be the birthplace of the prophet Abraham; Babylon, once the greatest city on earth; and Samarra, famous for its golden domed al-Askari shrine.

The firm's website states: 'The present situation in Mesopotamia has improved vastly this year and we have successfully operated several tours. We have added some previously off limit sites to our itinerary, notably Nimrud, and explored Tikrit more thoroughly. The palaces of Saddam Hussein are included and many other sites.’

The firm's managing director Geoff Hann, who has run tours to Iraq for over thirty years, said: 'We keep out of the way and don't attract attention, that's the safest way to travel anywhere.

'We specialise in history and archaeology. Tourism is in its infancy after the problems of recent years, but the sites are worth seeing and this really is where civilisation began.'

Iraq was a hugely popular holiday destination for visitors from countries such as Japan, France and Germany as well as the UK before Saddam Hussein went to war with Iran in 1980.

Britons are currently advised by the Foreign Office not to visit Iraq because of the high threat of terrorism and the risk of kidnapping, with the exception of a handful of provinces.