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When Jacob Nemec’s circle of relatives learned he was making plans to go on vacation to Iraq, they begged the 28-year-old American to reconsider his decision.
“I got a text message from my grandmother for the first time in five years saying, being your grandmother and respecting myself, I would appreciate it if you didn’t go. I earned my mother’s phone calls by crying,” said Nemec, a warehouse manager in Reno, Nevada.
He passed anyway, but he understood his family’s concerns.
Iraq has experienced uninterrupted turmoil for decades, from an eight-year war with Iran in the ’80s to the first Gulf War in the ’90s and heavy sanctions, the U. S. invasion of 2003, years of bloody sectarian warfare and then a standoff with Islamic State militants.
However, the situation has advanced since the territorial defeat of the Islamic State in 2017, with the fall of explosive walls and the emergence of cranes in Baghdad and other cities as they are structured and regain a new sense of normalcy.
Iraq hosted its first Gulf Cup in more than 40 years this year, with thousands of Arabs in attendance, an occasion that helped put the country back on the map.
Today, a small but growing number of tourists visit Iraq to see attractions ranging from vast deserts and swampy ecosystems to the ruins of the world’s first cities and empires.
Many have come from neighboring Persian Gulf countries, but defying warnings, a growing number of adventurous tourists are also arriving from Europe and the United States.
Nemec, accompanied by a Russian tourist and a British tourist, visited the labyrinth-like ruins of the ancient city of Bathroughlon, the Shiite holy city of Najaf with its narrow alleys and mud-brick houses, and the Old City of Mosul to the north.
“I was a little hesitant to come as an American, like, ‘Oh my God, my government has done some bad things here. Is everyone going to hate me for that?” said Nemec.
“That wasn’t the case at all. . . Governments can be bad, people, wherever you go, are good. “
The increase in tourism coincides with a push by the Iraqi government to show the country is open to foreign businesses and visitors as it seeks to diversify its oil-dependent economy.
Tourism Minister Ahmed Fakak Al-Badrani said work is underway to build new hotels to meet developing demand and renovate tourist sites and heritage buildings.
He said the country’s symbol in the West as a scene of clashes would be replaced as more and more people visited.
Tourists “are messengers who tell those states that Iraq has become a country of return and it’s not a red line as some say. Maybe the factor wants time, but not too much,” he told Reuters.
Foreign governments are convinced.
The United States and European countries warn that they oppose any travel to Iraq due to security concerns. The U. S. Department of State’s online page. The U. S. government states: “Do not travel to Iraq because of terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict, civil unrest. “
He urges others to write a will and arrange funerals with their families if they want to go.
Westerners were the primary target of kidnappings and assassinations after the U. S. invasion. The U. S. , joining through Sunni Muslim extremist teams like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, and hardline Shiite militias close to Iran, which saw all of the U. S. and the U. S. The U. S. as an occupier.
In November last year, a U. S. citizen was killed in central Baghdad, a rare attack that nevertheless sowed nervousness in the city’s foreign community.
Five Western diplomats said they would not replace warnings from the United States or Europe anytime soon because of the lingering choice of unpredictable violence, such as the armed clashes in Baghdad last year that killed dozens of Iraqis.
That hasn’t stopped other people from coming, but it’s unclear exactly how many show up.
The Minister of Tourism did provide figures on tourist arrivals.
Maj. Gen. Abdel-Karim Sudani, the minister’s security adviser, told Reuters that just over 2. 5 million foreigners had visited Iraq in the six-month period between Nov. 15, 2022, and May 15 this year, totaling 312,000 Arab visitors.
In any case, the tourism sector remains underdeveloped.
Few of the ancient ruins that dot the country have descriptions of their importance, nor accredited tour guides.
Baghdad International Airport does not have its own website, the search element of the smartest executive directs browsers to a page that warns: “We do not propose to visit the country (it is one of the most harmful places in the world). “
Many Iraqis are there to fill those gaps and show another side of the country.
Ali Hilal, a blogger, is one of them.
He found himself stranded in Iraq by the Covid-19 pandemic while coming from Canada, where he lived, and made the decision to travel around the country, filming magnificent ancient palaces and green mountains in videos posted online and widely shared.
“Of course, we have political, social and environmental problems,” Hilal said.
“But one aspect that we might have forgotten, and that’s the aspect that I’m looking to see and that other people see with me. “