Most tourist attractions across the Kurdistan Region are experiencing empty visitor numbers this year, with officials attributing the downturn to the combination of rainy weather and the observance of Ramadan.
Faisal Sadiq, the Director General of Tourism in Soran, highlighted the lack of preparations for tourist arrivals compared to previous years when thousands of visitors flocked to the region ahead of Newroz.
In Dukan, Sulaimani province, tourism project owners revealed to Channel8 that they had not received any advance bookings for the upcoming holidays due to the overlap of Ramadan and rainy conditions.
The impact of Ramadan on tourism numbers is evident, with Soran welcoming only 200 tourists daily, significantly fewer than in previous years.
Hussein Ali, the managing director of Korrek Mountain Tourism, sees the decrease in tourists as an opportunity to expand operations at Korrek.
According to the tourism hub owners, in previous years, a month before Newroz, visitors would call and book in advance. In previous years, a few days before Newroz, most tourism hubs and accommodations were fully booked, and prices would skyrocket to 200,000 dinars, compared to the normal range of 25,000 to 40,000 dinars.
