TEHRAN – The 18th meeting of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) board of representatives was held on Sunday in the presence of the Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Minister Ezatollah Zarghami, the ICCIMA portal reported.

The main focus of this meeting, which was chaired by the ICCIMA Head Gholam-Hossein Shafeie, was the issues that the country’s private sector active in the tourism industry is currently facing.

Speaking in the meeting, the head of ICCIMA Tourism Committee Ali-Akbar Abdolmaleki underlined the importance of the tourism industry in the global economy and stressed the need for placing more importance on this sector.

“Over 11 percent of the world's total employment is in the field of tourism and about 10 percent of the country’s GDP is accounted for by the tourism industry; the arrival of each tourist brings the country nearly 1000 dollars,” Abdolmaleki said.

According to the official, one of the potential opportunities for economic growth in the field of tourism and combating Iranophobia is to use the capacity of Iranians abroad.

“This capacity can be used to introduce Iran and attract investors and counter Iranophobia. I must point out that one of the complementary capacities in this regard is Iran’s joint chambers with other countries,” he added.

Further in the meeting, Shafeie pointed the problems and issues in the field of tourism, saying that the government should pay serious attention to the cultural and historical heritage and use the capacities in this industry to develop the country’s economy.

EF/MA