Hoildays in Baghdad

I need to share this article with anyone who did not read it yesterday:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article6910179.ece

For those who can't be bothered to read it, the story is about a seemingly hapless Iraq's tourist board official who has come to Britain in an attempt to raise the profile of their country as a holiday destination.

Stand out quotes:

"It has improved a great deal since 2005, when officials in Basra offered tourists a “70 to 80 per cent chance you will be okay”."

"When asked what sort of people they were hoping would visit, he replied: “Foreigners.”"

"Tim Moore, managing director of Toursmart, an online travel magazine, felt that Iraq would need at least two or three years without “people still being blown up” before it could be sold in Britain as a place to visit"

I can wait two or three years. The place looks beautiful and full of culture and history, as this BBC article points out. I remember Lonely Planet releasing a statement a couple of years ago naming Northern Ireland as the place to visit only years after hostilities ended. Having been to beautiful Bosnia (or the heart-shaped land) i can tell you that former war zones make great tourist destinations.

Iraq in 2012 is going to be dead cheap too, at the moment you get 1200 Iraq Dinar to the Dollar and their biggest note is only 250 dinars. Sure there will be inflation but you will still be able to live like a king on very little. You could probably stay in one of Saddam's former palaces.

As long as you can drink in the hotels I am up for it. Tourist money is probably going to help reconstruction more than UK and US occupation did, so be a part of the solution.

So who wants a ticket to Basra?