Support for TM’s Tourism Organization

Tehran Province's chief tourism official has thrown his support behind a plan by Tehran Municipality to form a tourism organization.

The municipality intends to elevate the status of its Tourism Headquarters to that of an organization for giving it more oversight over the Iranian capital's tourism sector.

"We are in favor of any move that facilitates decision-making and speeds up implementation of plans," said Rajabali Khosroabadi, the head of the provincial office of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, Mehr News Agency reported.

"The proposed establishment of Tehran Municipality's Tourism Organization can help streamline tourism in the city."

Critics worry that formation of the organization may lead to an overlapping of responsibilities and incite rivalry between TM and ICHHTO. However, Khosroabadi dismisses such concerns.

"We've collaborated well with the municipality in the past three years (when Khosroabadi took charge of the provincial ICHHTO)," he said, adding that ICHHTO and TM have regularly used each other's resources simultaneously.

Tehran has become the second city in Iran to propose the establishment of a municipality-operated tourism organization, after a similar proposal by Isfahan Municipality was approved by the local ICHHTO office in September 2015.