SHAFAQNA – The Governor of Karbala, Nassif Al-Khattabi, announced an agreement with Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi on the formation of a High Tourism Council and saying that more than 1,000 hotels had been closed due to Corona crisis, and 60,000 workers had lost their jobs.
Nassif Al-Khattabi said to the Iraqi newspaper “Al-Sabah” that the tourism situation in Karbala province has been hit hard for more than a year due to the cessation of religious tourism and the lack of pilgrims entering the city due to the spread of the corona, and this situation continues.
Al-Khattabi added: “The Corona epidemic has closed a thousand hotels and fired nearly 60,000 people, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.”
He noted that the issue had been referred to Iraqi Prime Minister and said: ” In the meeting with Al-Kazemi, an agreement was reached on the formation of a High Tourism Council consisting of the relevant ministries and departments, and it was agreed that the private sector would also be involved in this process.”
The governor of Karbala added: “In addition, in this meeting, it was agreed that the issuance of visas to tourist groups of more than ten people will be facilitated and to be done immediately at airports and border crossings, provided there is a prior electronic reservation and agreement with a tourism company in Iraq.”
He added: “These decisions also consist of granting long-term low-interest tourism investment loans to help rebuild and modernize tourism facilities, invest in special cases such as antiquities shops and medical centers, as well as the construction of special tourist places in the provinces that have tourism potential.
This news is translated by Shafaqna English.