Tourism in Iraq

Rafting in Iraqi Kurdistan (BBC image)

Oil isn’t the only industry poised for growth in Iraq. So is tourism, apparently.

“Look at us. We’re having a great time today. This is an awesome river. Why don’t you bring your wife and family here? I would.”

And so it’s off to Iraq for the Geo Quiz.

The biggest potential for tourism in Iraq is probably up north. We’re talking about an autonomous region which borders Iran and Turkey. Most of its population is distinct from the Arabs who predominate in the rest of the country. This is a region of green mountains and swirling rivers that are just fine for a bit of rafting. And this region is far removed from the sweltering heat of Baghdad and it’s dangers.

The answer is Kurdistan:

“Kurdistan is friendly. Kurdistan is welcoming. Kurdistan is ready for you. We have hundreds of millions of acres of untouched wilderness, and it’s safe. The thing is, no-one understands that it’s here.”

That’s Vermonter Mike Crane who’s a newly minted tourism consultant in Iraqi Kurdistan. He was part of a team of guides who took the BBC’s Gabriel Gatehouse out on a rafting trip a few days ago. Lisa Mullins talks with him.

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• Video: Gabriel’s BBC report

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LISA MULLINS: The oil industry isn’t the only one poised for growth in Iraq. So is tourism, apparently.

MALE SPEAKER:  Look at us. We’re having a great time today. This is an awesome river. Why don’t you bring your wife and family here? I would.

MULLINS:  And so it’s off to Iraq for today’s geo-quiz. The biggest potential for tourism in Iraq might be up north. We’re talking about an autonomous region that borders Iran and Turkey. Most of the population here is distinct from the Arabs who predominate in the rest of the country. This is a region of green mountains and swirling rivers that are just fine for a bit of rafting. And this region’s far removed from the sweltering heat of Baghdad. And it’s dangers. Ready for the answer? Whether or not you’re ready, the answer is Kurdistan.

MIKE CRANE: Kurdistan is friendly. Kurdistan is welcoming. Kurdistan is ready for you. We have hundreds of millions of acres of untouched wilderness in Kurdistan, and it’s safe. The thing is, no one understands that it’s here.

MULLINS: That’s Vermonter Mike Crane who’s a newly minted tourism consultant in Iraqi Kurdistan. He was part of a team of guides who took the BBC’s Gabriel Gatehouse out on a rafting trip a few days ago. Now, Gabriel, we don’t really think about rafting, certainly not white water rafting in a place like Iraq, but you had an amazing experience. What was it like there?

GABRIEL GATEHOUSE: Lisa, it’s the most fun I’ve had in Iraq in more than a year of covering this country. It’s just so nice to get out of Baghdad, get away from the bombs, the conflict, the question of political stalemate, and just spend some time in nature. You forget how beautiful Kurdistan is. I’ve been there a number of times, but every time you forget the mountains, the river, there are all kinds of exotic birds. We even saw some wild boar rootling around the riverbanks. Now this was all during the period while we were gently drifting down stream. I’d never been rafting before and I have to say I was a bit apprehensive. Especially as we started approaching the rapids. I think, to be fair, it was probably quite a gentle rapid. It didn’t feel very gentle. [OVERLAPPING]

MULLINS: It didn’t sound very gentle from the [INDISCERNIBLE] that I heard at one point.

GATEHOUSE: It was one minute of terror. We talk a lot about terror in Iraq. This was certainly pretty terrifying for about one minute and then we resumed our gentle pace downstream.

MULLINS: How long was the whole thing?

GATEHOUSE: Oh, we spent a whole day with this guy, Azzam Alwash. He’s an environmentalist. He’s an Iraqi-American. He actually left Iraq in ’78, went to live in California, became a successful engineer, set up a business. And then after the invasion in 2003, he came back and he’s now moved his attention to Kurdistan. He’s fascinated by water in all ways. So, we basically spent all day with him, floating down stream. And his big idea, I mean eco-tourism, is essentially still in its infancy in Kurdistan. We were certainly the first foreigners that the locals had seen floating down that river. But Azzam’s big idea is that eco-tourism, if it catches on amongst Iraqis, it can also persuade them to be greener themselves. Here’s what he told me.

AZZAM ALWASH:  The idea, Gabriel, is to get the people to enjoy their nature, their nature from the point of view of the river. They’re going to think twice about throwing the bottles in or the trash. Or even maybe apply pressure on the government.

MULLINS: By the way Gabriel, I understand there is another American, this one from Vermont who is one of the organizers of this venture. This is a self-proclaimed river rat.

GATEHOUSE: Yes, this is Mike Crane. Up until literally a few weeks ago, he was doing reconstruction work for the US State Department in Tikrit, that’s Saddam Hussein’s birthplace. He was living on an American base basically confined to barracks most of the time unless going out under heavily armed guard. He’s now swat that job to become a tourism consultant in Kurdistan. He’s living the life. He feels free, he lives in his own apartment. He doesn’t have to go out with armed guards because Kurdistan is relatively safe. Now he’s hugely optimistic about the potential for attracting foreigners, foreign tourists, to Kurdistan to come and do this kind of thing.

MULLINS: By the way, do the locals who you met, who you picnicked with, do they ever do any kind of white water rafting themselves, or is only for tourists?

GATEHOUSE: They feel pretty bemused by the idea of white water rafting. I don’t think they’d ever seen anything like it before. Now the locals that we came across, it was a large extended family. There are about 20 of them including lots of little kids sitting under the shade of a tree with their huge picnic, their [SOUNDS LIKE] dolma, their stuffed vegetables. And then once they’d finished lunch, they switched on the ghetto blaster with some traditional Kurdish music and they all got up and started dancing.

MULLINS: That’s great. I wonder, Gabriel, would you bring your nearest and dearest there. You had a lot of fun. Do you think that other people around you that you care about would?

GATEHOUSE: Look, I would quite happily bring my nearest and dearest. In fact, I was thinking my parents actually, because they’re big bird watchers and there was so many fascinating birds flying around, [INDISCERNIBLE], bee-eaters, and all these kind of things. I would happily bring my parents out there. They’re getting on a little bit now. I hope they’re not listening. I think to be fair, the tourists that Azzam and Mike are hoping to attract, at least initially, are not so much going to be families from the States or from Europe who are going to fly all the way out to northern Iraq to go on an outdoorsy adventure holiday. I think what they’re going to get, if it takes off, is going to be the foreign oil workers. I mean there’s going to be lots more and more of them as time goes by as Iraq’s oil industry develops. They’re going to be sitting under heavily armed guard on oil installations, in places like Basra down south, or Kirkuk which is by no means safe. And they will want to be able to get out on a bit of R&R. And if they can quickly hop up to Kurdistan in an hour or so, rather than spending three days getting somewhere outside the country, then I think this could possibly take off.

MULLINS:  Alright. The BBC’s Gabriel Gatehouse in Baghdad now. He’s just back from a rafting trip in northern Iraq in Kurdistan to be precise which is the answer to our geo-quiz. Nice to hear the description of the fun that you had. You said the most fun since you’ve been in Iraq.

GATEHOUSE: Without a doubt, Lisa. And I’d advise you, you should come out and try it.

MULLINS: Thanks for the invitation. Along with Mr. and Mrs. Gatehouse. Thanks a lot, Gabriel.

GATEHOUSE: Yeah. [INDISCERNIBLE]

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