TEHRAN–Iran plans to facilitate conditions for foreign trippers interested in visiting the country, according to the head of the Association of Iranian Travel Agencies.

Plans have been made to host foreign tourists in Iran, and efforts are being made to expand the presence of foreign tourists, said Hormatollah Rafiei on Sunday.

Tourism is important because it allows tourists to experience other cultures and civilizations, but Iran’s tourist attractions have not been adequately promoted in the international arena, he added.

Despite what the western media claims, Iran is a safe country where its citizens live peacefully, and foreign tourists are also free to travel around the country, he noted.

Back in June, the official said that it was possible to guarantee peace and security between nations by promoting tourism.

“Tourism has shown to be an industry that promotes peace and security as well as international friendship.”

It is imperative that tourism diplomacy, along with cultural, public, and economic diplomacy, be a focal point of negotiations and interactions between a country’s representatives and diplomats in an international arena, due to the interconnectedness of different ethnicities and nationalities, he explained.

During three difficult years with the coronavirus outbreak, the tourism industry not only did not expand the pandemic but with maximum cooperation and full compliance with global health protocols, was an important player in containing and ending this crisis, he added.

Although Iran’s tourism industry has suffered a loss of some 400 trillion rials ($1.4 billion), the loss of life in tourism facilities was almost zero, he noted.

Back in August, tourism minister Ezzatollah Zarghami said that Iran has recorded about 2.9 million foreign tourist arrivals over the past 11 months.

The tourism minister said the rate of tourist arrivals, concerning coronavirus restrictions, is ahead of some international estimates.

“Designing an Iranophobia project and presenting a negative image of Iran in some media is one of the obstacles to attracting foreign tourists,” Zarghami said.

“We have many relative advantages and facilities that none of the countries in the region have.”

Long shunned by Western travelers, the Islamic Republic has steadily stepped-up efforts to use tourism, over the past couple of years, to help promote its international image battered by endless opposition mostly from the U.S.

Experts believe even before the pandemic, Iran’s tourism was already grappling with some challenges, on top of those Western “media propaganda” aimed at scaring potential travelers away from the Islamic Republic. They say Iran is still somehow “unknown” to many potential travelers due to such a “media war.”

Before the COVID pandemic, Iran's tourism had constantly been growing, reaching more than eight million visitors in the Iranian calendar year 1398 (started March 21, 2019). That surge, however, helped prejudices to become thick and thin.

However, Iran’s trump card is that the country benefits from a wide variety of travel destinations ranging from seacoasts and lush green woods to towering mountains and harsh deserts. As a wallet-friendly destination with hospitable people, Iran has long been a desired destination for nature lovers, birdwatchers, powder chasers, culture devotees, pilgrims, museum-goers, foodies, adventurers, and medical travelers, to name a few.

Mass COVID-19 vaccinations, consecutive fam tours for foreign tour operators, easing travel procedures, and fresh strategies, altogether, suggest Iran is determined to experience a tourism rebound with a greater reliance on its numerous tourist spots of which 26 are UNESCO World Heritage, above all, its welcoming people.

ABU/AM