UNESCO is assisting the Government of Iraq in developing a National Tourism Strategy, in line with the Government’s goals for tourism expressed in the National Development Plan (2010-2014).

The development of a comprehensive tourism strategy for Iraq will cover different aspects of the tourist industry, identifying potential touristic products for cultural, religious and eco-tourism and will suggest ways of developing the sector at short-, mid- and long-terms. The mapping of Iraq’s rich cultural resources is currently quite limited, targeting mainly the mapping of cultural heritage sites and museum collections. This extremely important exercise coordinated by the Ministry of Culture needs to be supported by extending the scope of mapped resources to religious and natural sites.