TEHRAN – Iranian and Turkish experts have recently discussed ideas to help expand tourism between the two neighbors.  

In a meeting on Wednesday, as part of an effort to boost tourism between the two nations, Iranian and Turkish officials proposed holding a car rally between the Turkish city of Batman and the Iranian capital, CHTN reported on Thursday.  

The director of the Touring and Automobile Club of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammad Hossein Soufi, and a delegation of Turkish tourism officials and representatives from Batman city attended the meeting, which was held in Tehran, 

Ways to strengthen ties, develop interaction, and hold joint events including family and cultural rallies were discussed during the meeting, the report added. 

For his part, Soufi said that in order to boost tourism ties between the two countries, investments in tourism in Batman and some Iranian cities, tourist exchanges, recreational, tourism, and family rallies, as well as rallies of artists and athletes, could be implemented.

A number of other topics were discussed in the meeting, such as organizing tourism exhibitions, implementing car and motor tourism tours, holding cultural weeks, and using radio and television to introduce the tourism capacities of the two countries.

Earlier in May, Iranian Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Ezatollah Zarghami called for further efforts to deepen cooperation with Turkey in a meeting with Ali Yildirim, the president of Turkey’s Alevi community.

Identifying common grounds and investing in tourism facilities to expand relations are on the agenda, the Iranian minister said.

He also said his ministry seeks to remove barriers and facilitate the issuance of investment permits in Iran.

Under the 2025 Tourism Vision Plan, Iran aims to increase the number of tourist arrivals from 4.8 million in 2014 to 20 million in 2025.

ABU/AFM