BAGHDAD: The first Western firm to bring a group of foreign tourists to Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion said on Friday it will be back with more sightseers, despite having security difficulties on the trip.
We ve had security problems everywhere but we expected some of these, Hinterland Travel s managing director Geoff Hann told AFP.
We ve seen most of what we intended to see, from Arbil in the north to Babylon – site of the Tower of Babel – and the holy Shia pilgrimage centers of Najaf and Karbala south of Baghdad.
Mosul is off though, Hann said, referring to Iraq s tinderbox second city where US and Iraqi forces are still battling Al-Qaeda and Sunni rebels.
The London-based tour company said it has trips lined up for April, May and then September, October and November.
Costs were higher in Iraq than expected said Hann, who ran trips to the country before the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein from power six years ago.
We have to work out new prices as it s quite expensive here, he said. We have a number of people waiting for me to report back. I need to analyze it.
Armed guards dressed as civilians protected the five Britons, two Americans and a Canadian who flew into Baghdad International airport on March 8.
They were due to leave for Damascus on Sunday after visiting Iraq s National Museum in the capital.
The museum being open is a real bonus, Hann said. The cradle of civilization museum only reopened at the end of February after its ancient treasures were looted in the chaotic aftermath of the invasion.
The tourism ministry seized on the visit to promote Iraq after years off the world holiday map.
This visit is a positive sign for the return of touristic activity to Iraq, ministry spokesman Abdul Zahra Al-Telagani said on Thursday.
This is a message to the whole world that the new Iraq is now ready to return to a normal situation with security and stability.
Security has improved dramatically since early 2008, although suicide attacks and bombings remain a daily occurrence.
Despite Iraq being under UN sanctions for much of the 1990s, religious tourists, particularly Shiites from neighboring Iran, continue to visit major holy sites in the country. -AFP
