President Hassan Rouhani has said the administration is taking steps one by one toward the promotion of tourism industry and the country’s current political situation is ripe for attracting more tourists.

President Hassan Rouhani has said the administration is taking steps one by one toward the promotion of tourism industry and the country’s current political situation is ripe for attracting more tourists.

Rouhani made the remarks in a ceremony to mark the World Tourism Day in Tehran on Monday.

“The promotion of tourism will be beneficial to economy, culture, as well as domestic and foreign policy,” IRIB quoted Rouhani as saying.

Thanks to its various and numerous aspects, [the promotion of] tourism can be a rapid way of creating jobs for the youth, he added.

Rouhani attached importance to a vast yet sustainable expansion of tourism sector for generating jobs and ramping up the investment flows.

The country has been seeking a comprehensive yet balanced development at least over the past century, meanwhile he also expressed his gratitude for the Iranian armed and security forces.

The president added that through constructive interactions with the world “we have proved Iranphobia to be unsubstantial.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, Rouhani pointed to variety of attractions that the country boasts of including its natural beauties, rich cultural heritage, ethnic diversity, religious rituals, as well as a wealth of customs and traditions.

He also reminded that Iran is amongst the top ten countries in terms of the quantity of historical heritage and natural attractions.   

Another speaker, Iranian Vice President Masoud Soltanifar announced that over the past years the country has witnessed a jump of 10 percent in tourist arrivals.

“Iran aims to meet 20 million international tourist arrivals by 2025,” Soltanifar who also presides over Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) said.

During a video massage playback, United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary-General Taleb Rifai said “All of the world’s citizens have the right to experience the incredible diversity this planet has to offer.

“Therefore, it is highly important that all countries and destinations, as well as the industry, promote accessibility for all in the physical environment, in transport systems, in public facilities and services and in information and communications channels.”

Iran selected “Tourism for All, All for Tourism” as motto of the celebration this year. The procedure may simply hint at tourism as an exemplar public-welfare sector, yet it suggests everyone to take a role in supporting it.  

Iran plans to lay the ground to attract further Muslim tourists who are bound by picking the Halal tourism, considering the figures that the annual global turnover of such tourism industry reaches $150 billion, the CHTHO deputy director Morteza Rahmani-Movahhed announced earlier this month.

A subcategory of traveling, Halal tourism is geared toward the specific needs of Muslim individuals who seek to abide by the Islamic rules.

Soltanifar along with Education Minister Ali-Asqhar Fani unveiled the emblem of “Fellow traveler”, an innovative scheme that seeks to promote tourism codes among Iranian students.

Under an agreement signed by the CHTHO deputy director, Morteza Rahmani-Movahhed, and the deputy education minister, Hamidreza Kaffash earlier this month, the approach aims to heighten the students’ awareness of travelling in general as well as providing further insight as to historical, religious, and natural heritage of the country.

At the end of the meeting, the organizers also honored a wide range of topmost activists in the tourism industry such as hoteliers, tour guides, travel agents, drivers, web masters, journalists, mass media executives, artisans. 

In the picture above President Hassan Rouhani addresses attendees at a ceremony celebrating the World Tourism Day held at the IRIB International Conference Center in northern Tehran on September 26, 2016.

AFM/MG