Spatial analysis of religious tourism services in Iraq

Abstract

Despite the multiplicity of concepts of industry, which include all economic activities, including industry, tourism is one of those activities that industrial geography is interested in, due to its clear and prominent role in economic development and construction, Many countries in the world depend on tourism for their economic returns and for obtaining foreign currency. Because tourism is a permanent and inexhaustible resource, these countries have given it clear attention, as is the case in Spain, Switzerland, Egypt, Lebanon, and others.

Iraq is one of the countries that includes a group of diverse tourist phenomena, whether natural, such as the summer resorts of the north and the marshes of the south, or historical sites in Babylon, Nineveh and Dhi Qar, or religious shrines, such as in Najaf, Karbala, Baghdad and Samarra, in addition to churches and places of worship for the Yazidis, Mandaeans and Jews, due to the presence of the shrines of the prophets of these sects, such as the Prophet Ezra (peace be upon him) in Maysan Governorate.

But until now, religious tourism has not taken its real role in economic construction, despite the number of visitors that may reach more than (6 million visitors) in certain seasons officially, and the number reaches (20 million) unofficially, as in the (40) pilgrimage of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) and on (10 Muharram), And other times, this study came to clarify the impact of religious tourism on the Iraqi economic reality through the number of visitors, the areas of their arrival, and the amounts collected from them to develop a tourism policy and strategy through which the reality of the infrastructure of these sites can be developed and job opportunities provided for a large number of workers in them. The study comprises two chapters, The first addresses tourism, its concept and the factors that contribute to its development, while the second addresses religious tourism and religious tourism sites in Iraq, with a summary and recommendations.