Erbil Deputy Governor, Hemin Qadir participates in Rudaw's news bulletin here is the text of the interview as it is:
Erbil Deputy Governor, Hemin Qadir said on Wednesday, December 28, 2022. That according to the statistics provided by the Tourism Board, by the end of November 2022, about 2.4 million tourists have visited Erbil. Regarding the preparations and forecasts for the New Year, the Deputy Governor of Erbil said: “Preparations have been made to welcome tourists, Erbil's tourist attractions can accommodate 45,000 tourists daily. Therefore, we expect about 60,000 people from Iraqi provinces to visit Erbil on New Year's Day.".
He also said: "In the past two days, 25,000 people have come to Erbil at the Sherawa checkpoint alone,". The Deputy Governor of Erbil said that the governorate will not hold any celebrations, but the private sector has celebrations. He also spoke about the New Year and controlling the market said: “The committees of the governor's office continue their work to monitor the market. We have been meeting in Erbil governorate for the past few days and have drawn up a specific plan to monitor prices, Not only food prices, but also transportation prices, hotels and motels so that traders do not raise prices to take advantage of the New Year. Therefore, any excessive price that is not normal, the necessary action will be taken against the violator.".
He said that a special security plan has been developed to protect the security of citizens and tourists and facilitate the checkpoints to make it easier for tourists to enter Erbil, he said that: “security forces have been instructed to treat people softly in crowded places and prevent any disturbance that disrupts the security situation or annoys visitors to Erbil.”. Regarding the fireworks on New Year's Eve, the Deputy Governor said that: “the fireworks will be under the supervision of the governor and fireworks are prohibited in the streets and other public places and police have been instructed not to allow their misuse.".
On 2023 and efforts to increase the number of tourists, Hemin Qadir said: “Erbil has a special position as the capital and much progress has been made. We expect to increase the number of tourists and the government has worked. Therefore, we expect the private sector to carry out more tourism projects in Erbil to further develop the tourism sector in Erbil and bring more tourists to Erbil”.
Regarding the campaign to close “inappropriate” places, Hemin Qadir said: “Six months ago, we issued a directive and the Minister of Interior approved it until inappropriate places or places that annoy people, especially in Ankawa and Central district, will be reorganized and their licenses will be reviewed, or many places that make too much noise have been closed down, and places that are complained about are being closed down every day. Special guidelines have been set for those places that have live music several days a week. Therefore, the problem has been controlled in Erbil.”.