Foreign participants in the inauguration ceremony of Tabriz 2018, a year-long designation of the city in East Azarbaijan Province as the Capital of Islamic Tourism, believe Iran has the required capacity for the development of tourism but needs to promote the attractions globally.
Omer Arisoy, Turkey's deputy minister for tourism, said on the sidelines of the event on Wednesday that despite multiple attractions for tourists, the city needs wide advertising at an international scale, IRNA reported.
"I closely saw that Iran boasts numerous tourist spots and all it needs is mass marketing to attract investors and visitors," he said in a meeting with the head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Ali Asghar Mounesan.
He added that Iran needs to introduce more incentives in order to stimulate its tourism industry.
Nurzhan Abdullayev, a senior diplomat at Kazakhstan's embassy, also praised Iran's beauty which needs to be introduced to the people of his country.
"Iran could offer packages and apps to Kazakhstan's embassy so that we can promote Iran among the Kazakhs," he said.
Measures such as a visa waiver program could also help boost tourism ties between the two countries, according to him.
Swiss Ambassador Markus Leitner pointed out to the gross ignorance about Iran's charm as it has not been well endorsed as a travel destination.
"The task does not just fall to the government but the private sector should step in as well," he said.
The official proposed a cultural event in Zurich to introduce Tabriz in collaboration with the city's municipality.
Halil Ibrahim Akca, secretary general of the Economic Cooperation Organization, said on Friday that many of Iran's appeals are still unknown to the world.
"Through proper and consistent marketing, Tabriz can be a model and a pioneer for the development of Iran's tourism," he said.
Need to Redress Imbalance
The exchange of tourists between Iran and Turkey suffers a huge imbalance whose correction seems way too ambitious.
Mounesan called on the Turkish government to present a positive image of Iran to help narrow the gap.
"We expect practical measures to at least increase the number of Turkish travelers to Iran even if the exchange cannot be made equal," he said in the meeting with Arisoy.
Turkey is ranked sixth in the world in terms of attracting tourists.
"To achieve the status, we initiated plans 50 years ago and are now targeting to improve the rank to become the third in the world," Arisoy said, adding that Iran, too, can follow the same strategy.
Mounesan also announced Iran's strong willingness to encourage foreign investment in Iran's tourism.
"In addition to tax exemptions, we have envisioned other incentives for foreign investors, including lines of credit," he said, asking the Turkish side to prepare the ground for businesses to enter Iran's tourism market.
He proposed a meeting with Turkish investors in mid-June which was welcomed by Arisoy, who said a session is essential to convince business people.
"The Turkish government does not directly invest in tourism and since 1980, it has boosted the industry by handing over state properties to the private sector and guaranteeing their future operations," he said.
The ICHHTO head also met with Halit Eren, secretary general of the Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture, on Wednesday to discuss the capacities for cooperation in the field of handicrafts.
"Each Iranian ethic group across the country has quality handmade products of its own which gives variety to the sector," he noted, calling for teamwork with the handicrafts department of ICHHTO.
Eren expressed interest in joint projects with Iran, especially in the publication of historical documents such as ancient scripts of the Holy Quran.
