Turquoise Bridge

Turquoise Bridge

What surprised me most about Iran?
The people: you brace yourself for hostility but find warmth and friendliness.
And the beauty: you expect Iran but find yourself in Persia, a land of turquoise and gold, domes and minarets, nomads and mountains...

Hilary Bradt, The Times, London, 21/9/96

With the approval of UN General Assembly, Iran will host the world ministers of tourism in 2001

During the past two decades, Iran has not paid sufficient attention to tourist industry because of such issues as the Iraq-Iran War and the post-war “construction era”. Real efforts for expansion of this industry have started two years ago. Current facilities are barely enough to receive large number of tourists here, and no one should be waiting for a miracle to happen. Many plans and policies have been adopted in this line during the past two years and a host of practical measures have been taken: a number of short and long films were made to be broadcast on TV channels worldwide. Also a Web Site, Iran: Turquoise Bridge has been dedicated to introducing Iran’s tourist attractions.
Through fostering its tourist industry, Iran now intends to exploit this resource. One of the impacts of Iran-Iraq War has been tarnished image of Iran in the international scene; however, with President Khatami’s taking office, the first step was to offer a real picture of this country to the world. In this line, the policy of détente has been pursued by the Khatami Administration.
Iran needs friendly relations with other countries more than the revenues from tourism. At present, the country can host two million tourists annually, while Muslim countries can well benefit from Iran’s facilities in this field.

Shortcomings

Tourism officials believe lack of enough marketing on Iran’s attractions and poor publicity about the hospitality of Iranian people have been main reasons behind the tiny share of Iran in global tourism. Most travel and tour agencies now are active only in a specific area which is a very small part of the country and the tours organized by them do not last more than 15 days.
The first condition for expansion of tourism is providing security for tourists. The Parliament, the government and all organizations should first agree that tourism should be expanded and then the national will should be directed to realize this purpose.
Moreover, if Iran is after expanding its tourism industry, it should build suitable accommodation facilities, organize personal tours and ease the regulations for issuing visa for tourists, which now is considered by many tourists as the main obstacle for visiting this country.

Prospects

By the end of the Third Economic Development Plan (2000-2005), Iran will be earning $10 billion annually from tourism. During the past two years, forex revenues earned from tourism have increased by 35% compared with pervious years. Last year’s tourism revenues was $447 million, while this figure will reach $640 million by the end of the current Iranian year (started March 21, 1999). At present only 4% of those working in the tourism sector have relevant expertise.
However before the end of the Third Economic Development Plan, the ratio of expert workforce in the sector will grow by 60%. With the approval of UN General Assembly, Iran will host the ministers of tourism in 2001. The representative of World Tourism Organization in Asia recently announced that Iran is the second destination for tourists in South Asia, while it ranked the sixth at the beginning of the 1990’s. India is the first destination for most tourists in the Asian region. Iranian tourist industry owes its success to the effective polices of the Iranian government in recent years, particularly the endeavors of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
Enjoying the best natural attractions and the most beautiful shores of the region in Persian Gulf and Oman Sea, Iran can be a good resort for water skiing. Twenty percent of tourists visit other countries for cultural sightseeing and 60% of them are interested in culture. Tourism would do a lot to preserve the cultural heritage, especially for developing countries. We should face the challenges of growing tourism in the world.
It is hoped that the cooperation between the UN, World Tourism Organization and Iranian government would translate into a comprehensive plan for development of tourism, which is stable from the economic point of view and is acceptable from the social and environmental point of view.