Promoting tourism abroad is instrumental to dispelling safety concerns and improving Iran’s international profile -- but the country’s tourism authority believes it costs too much!
Speaking to Mehr News Agency, Ali Baqer Nemati Zargaran, promotion and marketing deputy at the Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, said running television teaser trailers on satellite TV, a common practice to promote a destination, is too expensive.
“We know these ads can go a long way toward promoting Iranian tourism and the country’s image, but we simply can’t afford them,” he said.
A teaser on the state-owned Chinese television broadcaster CCTV costs an estimated $500 per second, while Euronews charges between €200 and €350 ($223 - $391) per second, the official said.
“So, assuming we’d like to run a 30-second teaser on CCTV 80 times for an entire year, it’ll cost about $1.2 million,” Zargaran said, adding that the ICHHTO currently “has no funds for marketing.”
In the proposed budget bill for the next fiscal year (starts March 20), the organization is expected to receive 7 trillion rials ($194 million), though how much of that will be allocated to marketing is unclear.
“We’ve prepared everything, but as long as the coffers are empty we won’t be able to run the ads,” Zargaran said, adding that the organization hopes to make use of the IRIB’s (state broadcaster) international connections to air its teasers.
In cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, ICHHTO has compiled a list of 40 countries in which to promote Iranian tourism, but due to limited funds the organization has prioritized 16 countries, the official added.
In addition to the Chinese and Russian markets, Iran is targeting regional countries such as Kuwait, Iraq and Qatar, as well as European countries including Germany, Italy and France.
