Arab Tourism Capital 2014: Oldest City in the World

Doaa Amin, General Manager of Tangram Hotel Erbil talks about Erbil being the Arab Tourism Capital for 2014 and its main tourism attractions. Also, she discusses how Tangram Hotel is capitalizing on this opportunity.

I definitely think that it is well deserved. I am a big fan of Kurdistan with its beautiful scenery, mountains, valleys and rivers. Erbil is safe, it has four seasons with fantastic weather, it has attractions for families etc. it really deserves to be on the map of leisure tourism destinations as well as business tourism destinations.
However, many aspects could be better coordinated for us as a destination to achieve better results. One of the key aspects that needs to be addressed is the issue of entry permits for Arabs. If it is the Arab capital of tourism that means that we are attracting Arabs yet it is extremely difficult for Arabs from this region to get an entry permit or a tourism visa. This has to be solved so that we can attract more tourism because we deserve it. A very good exercise would be to put all the tourism players around a table at least once, so that they can share their experiences and needs and come up with suggestions for improvements. I really wish that Erbil received more business than it does right now and I believe that other areas in the region are not getting their fair share either.