TEHRAN – Iran is focusing on domestic tourism and travel to neighboring countries as it seeks to revive the tourism industry following the country’s war with the US forces, Deputy Tourism Minister Anoushiravan Mohseni-Bandpei said Tuesday.
Speaking at a press conference marking the country’s National Tourism Week, Mohseni-Bandpei said the Tourism Ministry had developed different scenarios for managing travel during periods of conflict, uncertainty and peace, while stressing that tourism remains vulnerable because of its impact on employment and foreign-exchange earnings.
“Our focus is currently on domestic tourism,” he said, adding that in international tourism, priority was being given to countries sharing land borders with Iran.
Iraq is the ministry’s first priority, he said, noting that nine areas of cooperation had been identified to activate tourism between the two neighboring countries. Tourism offices in Afghanistan and Pakistan have also been activated, while participation in international tourism exhibitions is being used to stimulate foreign demand.
Mohseni-Bandpei said the ministry would continue supporting travel despite difficult circumstances.
He cited ministry figures showing that about 23.8 million trips were made across Iran during the 12-day war and the following 40-day war. Only about 4% of travelers stayed in formal accommodation facilities, while most stayed with relatives or in second homes.
He also praised tourism businesses, hotels and medical centers for helping people who traveled to safer areas during the conflict. Some hotels in Tehran and service providers in provinces including Golestan offered free services to travelers, he said, describing the assistance as an important expression of social solidarity.
The deputy minister also emphasized the need to accelerate the digital transformation of tourism and make practical use of artificial intelligence.
He said the UN Tourism’s theme for this year focuses on a “digital agenda and artificial intelligence for tourism redesign,” adding that Iran needs to assess and apply the technology according to its own circumstances and cultural requirements.
“Destination selection, travel planning, marketing, booking and the tourism experience” all need to be reconsidered in light of technological change, he said.
Mohseni-Bandpei said Iran had already begun the process of making its tourism industry smarter and would develop it in line with national conditions, while seeking to preserve cultural identity and improve destination and visitor-experience management.
Seyyed Mostafa Fatemi, director general of domestic tourism development, said artificial intelligence was already being used on a daily basis to influence travelers’ decisions and determine tourism destinations.
He said more than 650 tourism events would be held across Iran’s 31 provinces during Tourism Week under the title “Mehr-e Jonoub” (Southern Affection), with particular emphasis on southern provinces.
Fatemi said the ministry was also seeking to diversify tourism destinations and stimulate demand through events, social-media management and discounts. While travel had been concentrated in the northern provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran and Ardabil over the past year, he said travel was now spreading to provinces including Khorasan Razavi, Semnan, Golestan, Zanjan, Qazvin, East and West Azarbaijan, Kordestan and Hamadan.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Tajari, another tourism ministry official, said 246 tourism projects were scheduled to open, adding 1,855 rooms to the country’s tourism accommodation capacity.
The projects include 16 hotels and hotel-apartments, 71 eco-lodges, 26 traditional restaurants, 16 tourism complexes, 71 travel-service offices and 46 other tourism infrastructure projects.
Among the projects are three five-star hotels in Isfahan, Rasht and Mashhad, as well as one four-star, five three-star and one two-star hotel.
Tajari said the private sector remained active in tourism infrastructure development and that government and parliamentary incentives had helped encourage investment in the sector.
The press conference also featured the unveiling of the poster for World Tourism Day and Iran’s National Tourism Week. The “new tourism year” is also being named after Iranian explorers Issa and Abdolhossein Omidvar, known as the Omidvar Brothers.
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