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Iraqi Kurdistan: Chiefs hope new resort
will help kick-start holiday industry
16.6.2007
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June
16, 2007
Kurdistan region (Iraq), -- It is Friday
afternoon, and the queue for the downhill toboggan
run is getting longer. Sirwan Mohammed catches his
breath as he hops off the luge with his grandfather
in tow and joins the back of the line for another
go. "It's great fun no matter how old you are," he
enthuses. "Who says you can't have fun in Iraq?"
Welcome to the Pank resort, a multi-million-pound
leisure complex that would be unremarkable in most
parts of the world. But in a country riven by war
the sight of alpine-style chalets, manicured lawns
and a roller-coaster sledge ride comes as a shock.
It is easy to forget that this is Iraq. Even more so
when you take in the stunning backdrop of some of
Kurdistan's highest peaks.
"Simply strap yourself in and let gravity do the
rest," an attendant tells a pair of thrill-seekers
as he gives the cart a gentle shove. "There's no
need for any steering," he tells them as they slide
forward, "you do have a brake handle."
Once complete the site will boast a five-star hotel,
restaurants, swimming pools, saunas, tennis courts,
helipads and mini golf. A cable car will be also
constructed across the spectacular gorge where only
eagles dare.
"It is the first such tourist investment in Iraq
since the fall of Saddam Hussein," says its proud
owner, Hazem Kurda, a former refugee from the
Ba'athist regime, who made his fortune importing raw
brown rice into the EU from his new home in Sweden.
Like thousands in the Kurdish diaspora who left
under Saddam he returned home after the "liberation"
in 2003.
"I saw an opportunity. People may say I am crazy.
But building a proper responsible tourist industry
in Kurdistan could benefit Iraq as a whole," he
says. "Tourism could help wean us from our reliance
on oil."
The site near the town of Rowanduz is situated 1,000
metres up, on a narrow tongue of rock that slopes
down from Korek mountain between the deep canyons of
two rivers, then narrows and ends in a small
plateau. It is on this plateau that Mr Kurda chose
to develop the resort. But first he had to remove
the mines left behind by Saddam's army.
The new complex is just part of broader plans to
develop the tourist sector elsewhere in Iraqi
Kurdistan. Mr Kurda is just the kind of risk-taker
the authorities are looking for.
"We would like to see more investors like him," says
Nimrud Beito, the tourism minister, in the new
tourism ministry in Kurdistan regional capital,
Erbil. The Kurdish regional government has
introduced tax breaks for anyone who wants to take
the plunge, he says.
An Assyrian from the northern city of Dohuk, Mr
Beito says the region has much to offer: "ancient
archaeological sites, cultural and religious
locations, and splendid natural scenery."
He foresees a growth in activity tourism, rock
climbing, white water rafting, and bird watching.
The tourism infrastructure is rudimentary at best.
The few decent hotels are over-priced and are often
full of visiting businessmen. There are no tour
guides or information packs. Few taxi drivers speak
a foreign language. And if you venture on to the
roads by yourself, the Saddam-era maps will soon get
you lost.
Frustrated with the image of Iraq in the outside
world, the Kurdish authorities are trying to present
another face. "The focus is on building a future
rather than on simply trying to stay alive," says Mr
Beito.
Much is made of the Kurds' friendliness to
foreigners and the fact that not a single American
soldier has been killed in the region since 2003.
The British Foreign Office also recently altered its
travel advisory to northern Iraq to reflect its
relative stability. Despite the proximity to
strife-torn cities such as Mosul and Kirkuk, and
with the Turkish army camped on the northern
borders, Iraqi Kurdistan remains remarkably calm.
The first British package tour to Kurdistan has just
returned home. Geoff Hahn of Hinterland Travel, who
has been organising Iraq tours for the best part of
30 years, took a group to Rowanduz, Yezidi villages,
Erbil's ancient citadel - reputedly the world's
oldest continuously inhabited place, and the site of
the legendary battle of Arbella between Alexander
the Great and the Persians. "We are an adventure
travel firm and it was an adventure," he says. "But
it was a good one and we already have plenty of
interest for another tour in September."
For Mr Kurda the resort is the fulfilment of a
childhood dream. As a 12-year-old he would slip past
the Iraqi guard posts keeping a watchful eye on his
hometown and perch on the edge of the gorge to study
his schoolbooks. "I made a promise to myself that if
I worked hard enough one day that land, this magical
place where I grew up, would no longer be a place of
oppression but one of joy," he says. "I wanted to
hear the sound of laughter in a land which has seen
much suffering."
Part of the project will reflect how different the
Kurds are from the Arabs, he says. "Not better, just
different, with our own history and culture. We
Kurds have been here as long as the mountains
themselves."
The Kurdish hope for a tourism influx may yet be
disappointed. A bomb attack against the interior
ministry in Erbil in May, which killed a number of
civilians, was a reminder of the terrorist threat.
But with two international airports built since 2003
the once isolated region is now more accessible.
Last December Austrian Airlines became the first
international scheduled airline to fly into Iraq.
Occupancy is running at 80%, and the route is one of
the best performing on the Austrian network,
according to Peter Katzlberger, the country director
in Iraq.
guardian co.uk
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