TEHRAN – Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization hosted a consultative meeting on sustainable tourism on Tuesday, in which a UNESCO representative put the spotlight on ongoing bilateral cooperation in empowering the sector.

The meeting convened tourism stakeholders ranging from government officials to academia and representatives of NGOs and the private sector as attendees discussed roles the country can assume to mark 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

Capacity-building for World Heritage Site managers, strengthening museum management, protection and promotion of underwater cultural heritage, training of specialized tour guides, and supporting the CHTHO in the development of a national strategy for sustainable tourism were amongst issues raised by Esther Kuisch Laroche, the director and representative of the UNESCO Cluster Office in Tehran.

Kuisch Laroche reminded participants the role of tourism in economic development as well, saying “The tourism sector accounts for 7 percent of worldwide exports, one in eleven jobs and 10 percent of the world’s GDP.”

“As we have entered the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, let us use this unique opportunity to build a more responsible and committed tourism sector that can capitalize its immense potential in terms of economic prosperity, social inclusion, cultural and environmental preservation, and peace and understanding”, Kuisch Laroche explained.

During a keynote speech, CHTHO Director Zahra Ahmadipour stressed the importance of sustainable tourism for development and called upon the participants to put forward concrete proposals, taking into consideration all relevant cultural, social and economic aspects.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization officially named 2017 as “International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development during the 18th Spanish Tourism Fair – FITUR – in January.

With countless natural beauties, deeply-rooted-in-time history and culture, as well as abundance of tourist sites, 21 of which have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list, Iran seeks to acquire greater share of the global tourism industry.

Foreign tourist arrivals in Iran has been more than double that of the global average since the implementation of the nuclear deal, known as JCPOA, the CHTHO announced in Oct. 2016.

PHOTO: A general view shows a consultative meeting on sustainable tourism   at Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization headquarters in Tehran on February 14, 2017.

AFM/MG