Mövenpick to Enter Iraq’s Kurdistan Region With Planned Lakefront Resort
Summary: Accor has announced plans to open a 150-room Mövenpick resort on Gomaspan Lake near Erbil in 2030, marking the brand’s debut in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region. The property will combine family leisure facilities with extensive wedding and meeting space as Accor expands its Iraqi portfolio.
Accor and regional developer KRD Holding signed an agreement at the Future Hospitality Summit to develop a 150-room Mövenpick resort on Gomaspan Lake in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, with an opening planned for 2030.
The newly built Mövenpick Erbil Gomaspan Resort will be the brand’s first property in the Kurdistan Region and its second in Iraq. Located in Erbil Governorate, less than a 30-minute drive from central Erbil, the development will broaden the city’s internationally branded accommodation options beyond its urban center.
Plans call for 150 rooms and suites, several restaurants and lounges, a spa, a family leisure club, and indoor and outdoor swimming pools. The resort will cater to families and groups traveling across generations, with facilities intended to support weekend breaks as well as extended vacations. Its restaurants will draw on Mövenpick’s culinary traditions.
Weddings and business gatherings will be another focus. The property will include more than 1,300 square meters, or approximately 14,000 square feet, of meeting and event space, positioning it to host corporate retreats, private celebrations and larger regional functions.
Raki Phillips, Accor’s regional president for its premium, midscale and economy division across the Middle East, Africa and Türkiye, pointed to Erbil’s improving transport connections and established domestic travel market as reasons for the expansion. He said the lakefront location and proximity to the city would support the resort’s ambitions in leisure travel, weddings and events.
The agreement follows the opening of Mövenpick Hotel Al Zaytoon Baghdad, which established the brand’s presence in Iraq.
Daban Hamid, deputy CEO of KRD Holding, described the partnership as part of the company’s wider effort to bring international brands and investment to Kurdistan. He said the development would help expand the region’s tourism offering and support economic growth.
Accor reported that it operates one hotel in Iraq with more than 260 rooms and has five additional properties, totaling approximately 1,300 rooms, under development. The Gomaspan Lake project forms part of that broader push to increase its presence in the country while adding a resort destination near Erbil.
