Tehran Municipality is setting up a new department to oversee tourism and cultural heritage affairs, Deputy Mayor for Social and Cultural Affairs Valiollah Shojapourian said.
"We have assigned a committee to make necessary arrangements for the establishment of an internal tourism and cultural heritage office within the municipality," Shojapourian said, Shabestan News Agency reported on Monday.
Speaking at the Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Sustainable Development conference, the official lamented that Iran's huge tourism potential has remained largely untapped.
"Iran is among the top ten countries with most historical attractions, but ranks ninety-three in offering tourism services," Shojapourian said, citing poor marketing and a lack of infrastructures as the main impediments to tourism development.
"For every ten tourists one job is created and this potential should be used to boost employment in Tehran," he said.
Shojapourian noted that Tehran is home to a large number of historical monuments and other tourist sites, which underlines the need to create an independent body in Tehran Municipality to manage their affairs.
"Under Article 109 of the municipality's development plan and Article 151 of the sixth national economic development plan [2016-21], we need a legally established structure to manage and develop tourism," he added.
The request has been sent to Tehran Mayor Mohammad Ali Afshani, who was only elected on Sunday.
