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NATURAL, HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL RECREATIONAL RESOURCES AS THE BASIS OF THE ECOLOGICAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN THE IRAQI KURDISTAN ERBIL REGION

Yousif Abdulrahman, Anna Kholodenko, Elena Ivantsova

Abstract

The sphere of public tourism and recreational services of the population, as one of the sustainable resource usage type, can make a significant contribution to the realization of the nature protection tasks and way of natural ecosystems sustainable functioning maintenance. Ecotourism can be one of the most effective environmental protection tools in case of proper management and planning of recreational nature management. In Iraqi Kurdistan, tourism is spontaneous and usually had the form of private trips to tourist sites. Considering ecotourism as a mechanism for the conservation and protection of nature, an organized form of recreation is a priority. Nature conservation and aesthetic properties of natural landscapes attract tourists from developed countries. They are more interested in visiting regions with undisturbed nature. The study included recreational zoning of Iraqi Kurdistan. On this territory it allocated four ecotourism areas: Erbil, Dahuk, Sulaymaniyah and Halabja. Each of the districts is characterized by an individual combination of natural and historical and cultural recreational resources. Northern and eastern territories of Kurdistan are the most promising for the regional environmental tourism development. The natural conditions, resources, and the relatively low degree of economic development of these Kurdistan areas contribute to the development of the recreation sector. These areas are distinguished by a large number of ecotouristic objects, specially protected natural areas, natural monuments, preserved areas of steppe, which can be used as attraction centers for environmental tourism. The Erbil region of Iraqi Kurdistan has significant resources for the development of ecotourism. Its recreational potential consists of historical places, such as the Erbil Citadel, landscape conditions and a variety of cultural sites. A higher level of infrastructure development compared to the rest of the ecotouristic areas of Kurdistan is its advantage. The article presents the results of the cartographic analysis to provide the province of Erbil with various types of recreational resources and tourism infrastructure. The natural and historical-cultural recreational resources of the Erbil region have great potential in the world tourism market because of demonstrating the stability, security and economic development of Kurdistan.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgem2020/5.1/s20.073

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