ATTAI: Iraqi visa to 37 countries including the Arab Gulf states

INA - BAGHDAD 

The Association of Travel and Tourism Agents in Iraq ATTAI revealed on Wednesday, that the Iraqi visa is now available for 37 countries, including the Gulf and the European Union, while confirming that there are about a thousand tourist companies registered in Iraq.

"Tourism to Iraq is represented by visiting the holy shrines as Iraq recently opened the visa for 37 countries, including the European Union and the Gulf," said Firas Al-Dulaimi, Secretary of the Association of Travel and Tourism Agents in Iraq, to Al-Iraqiya News TV, followed by the Iraqi News Agency - INA.

He noted that, "Iraq has lifted the visa from the Gulf countries, but they do not return back the same treatment," stressing that "tourism companies do not benefit from millions of religious visits."

"Most of the Iraqi tourists went to Kurdistan as the Tourism Authority seeks to raise the level of tourism in Iraq."

He indicated that "the fake tourism companies were involved in smuggling cases on the grounds of immigration. The number of fake tourism companies is estimated at thousands."

Al-Dulaimi explained that "there are fake offices that impersonate tourism companies. More than a thousand tourist companies are currently registered."

"We stopped dealing with Egyptian companies because of the monopoly," he pointed out, noting that "Egyptian companies doubled the price of the visa from $50 to $220."