TEHRAN – Iran is the most affordable country for tourists amongst the 141 countries studied in a report by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The forum issued the study under the title of the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2015.

The report includes detailed profiles for each of the 141 economies, as well as an extensive section of data tables with global rankings covering 90 indicators included in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) from 2013 to 2015.

Egypt appeared on the second rank and the next country is Indonesia.

Price Competitiveness in the Tourism and Travel Industry is the lower costs related to travel in a country increase its attractiveness for many travelers as well as for investing in the T&T sector.

Among the aspects of price competitiveness taken into account in this study are airfare ticket taxes and airport charges, which can make flight tickets much more expensive; the relative cost of hotel accommodation; the cost of living, proxied by purchasing power parity; and fuel price costs, which directly influence the cost of travel.

Prioritization of Travel & Tourism, International Openness, and Environmental Sustainability are other factors studied by the forum to measure the Travel and Tourism Policy and Enabling among the countries.

The values are calculated on the basis of data derived from the Executive Opinion Survey (Survey) and the quantitative data from other sources.


Published every two years, the Report provides a strategic tool for both business and governments. It allows for cross-country comparison of the drivers of T&T competitiveness, for benchmarking countries’ policy progress and for making investment decisions related to business and industry development.

------------ Growth of foreign tourists in Iran

The number of foreign tourist arrivals grew 75% during the Iranian calendar year 1393, which ended on March 21, 2015, the director of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) Masud Soltanifar announced early April.

Iran already issues visa on-arrival for citizens of more than 190 countries. The visa is allowed for a maximum validity of 14 days and one extension is possible for tourists without leaving the country.

Iran announced that many foreign tourists from different countries of Europe, Africa as well as U.S. and Australia visited the country during past year.

Regarding the decrease in inflation rate in Iran, the country is a low-priced destination for foreign tourists.

Iran made it onto the top destination lists of major publications such as The Financial Times and The Guardian last year thanks to sights that include 2,500-year-old ruins at Persepolis near Shiraz and 16th-century Islamic architectural gems in Isfahan.

PHOTO: Foreign tourists enjoy visiting historical monuments in Isfahan (Hamidreza Nikomaram/Fars