The following initiatives were taken directly from the USAID Babil PRT (Provincial Reconstruction Team) Tourism Initiative report:

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RECOGNIZE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT as an important economic priority and the primary vehicle to fund antiquity preservation. Build strategic-planning capacity and funding at the national level.

RECOGNIZE ARCHEOLOGY as the country‘s true underground wealth. Adequately train and fund the SBAH, develop preservation and excavation trainers. Enlist worldwide support including university sponsorship of major site excavations.

 

CONTINUE BABIL PRT TOURISM PROGRAMS with expertise and funding to institutionalize the strategic-planning, business-development, hospitality-training, and regional-integration action groups. Fully develop a provincial-funding model. Improve destination promotion to visitors and investors. Expand the Babil tourism model nationally.

 

PROVIDE ESSENTIAL VISITOR SERVICES AT THE BABYLON RUINS including bathrooms, museum, retail, tour guides, and interpretive signs. At the minimum, provide site security at Borsippa and Kish ruins.

 

CONTRACT BABIL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTATIVES in Baghdad and Najaf connecting to source markets and key decision makers.

 

FOCUS ON IMPROVING THE BABYLON RESORT & CONFERENCE CENTER to become Iraq‘s leading venue for conferences and high-level diplomatic events.

 

CONVERT SADDAM’S BABYLON PALACE INTO IRAQ’S NEW HANGING GARDENS CULTURAL CENTER not only providing Babylon with a banner ―must-see‖ attraction, but illustrating to the world Iraq‘s transition into the cultural capital of the Middle East.

IMPROVE BABIL RELIGIOUS / CULTURAL SITES AND DRIVING INTINERARIES to be integrated into a 1 and 2-day tour for Shi‘a pilgrims visiting Najaf and Karbala. Provide the platform for the governors of Babil, Najaf and Karbala to formulate a regional tourism strategy addressing pilgrimage issues. Fund renovation of the downtown Hillah Museum and Historic Document Library.

DEVELOP BABIL TOURISM SERVICES such as tour operators, guides, and transportation companies. Encourage cultural handicraft production / promotion.

 

ATTRACT MIDDLE EAST INVESTORS AND OUTBOUND TOUR OPERATORS to establish business relations in Babil and create linkages with source markets.

 

FINALIZE THE MOU WITH USAID JORDAN to receive Arabic hospitality training curriculum. Adapt the program for Iraq. Set up training partnerships with chambers of commerce and SBDC.

 

CAPITALIZE ON THE AL NAJAF INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT providing Babil a strategic linkage to the world, and Najaf‘s important role in Shi‘a culture.

 

FUND RENOVATION OF THE BABYLON HOTEL, formerly the Al Hillah REO.

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