Businessman Jabar Shagheet Mansur has opened the Mnawi Basha Hotel in Basra, Iraq [AFP/Getty Images]. Businessman Jabar Shagheet Mansur has opened the Mnawi Basha Hotel in Basra, Iraq [AFP/Getty Images].


However, Euromonitor International cited religious tourism as the main reason tourism didn’t stop completely in Iraq during and after the war.
“Iraq’s Shiite shrines have been most popular among Iranians, who can now travel freely to and from Iraq and who made up almost the totality of international tourist arrivals to Iraq in 2007,” the spokesman said.
“There is more potential to boost religious tourism to Iraq further, but the infrastructure is very much lacking and the country will need to get back on its feet first.”
The safest area in Iraq is the Kurdistan area, which is home to many developments in terms of tourism and where international tourists can travel without worrying unduly about security issues.
As a result, growth in international tourist arrivals to Iraq will be mainly driven by this region. International tourist arrivals are predicted to grow by an average 6% a year.

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