As part of efforts to promote the country's attractions more widely across the globe, Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization is seeking to tap the capacity of Iranian ambassadors to foreign countries to extend its range of activities beyond the borders.
In a meeting with Iranian embassy and consular officials on Saturday, Ali Asghar Mounesan, the ICHHTO chief, appealed to the diplomats to identify the most prominent travel agencies in their country of mission so as to place Iran among their target destinations through familiarization tours.
"The greatest problem in Iran's tourism is lack of advertising, for which we had severe financial constraints … This year, our budget for foreign advertisement has increased multifold," he was quoted as saying by ILNA.
Even with those limited funds, he added, Iran participated in foreign tourism exhibitions and managed to identify the potential source markets.
The comprehensive tourism portal at visitiran.ir that has been recently launched can provide access to in-depth information about provincial attractions.
"During the New Year holidays [late March and early April], the website was visited about six million times and many lesser known cities were noticed and welcomed by tourists during the period [thanks to the information on the portal]," he said.
The English version of the portal is yet to be launched.
Mounesan also urged ambassadors to encourage foreign investors to put their money in tourism projects in Iran because the government is providing excellent support at the moment.
ICHHTO is also ready to deploy representatives abroad to facilitate its activities.
"We are ready to give authority to qualified representatives," he said.
Proposals for Embassies
Mohammad Moheb-Khodaei, tourism deputy at ICHHTO, presented a list of suggestions for embassies on how to cooperate in improving the inbound travel sector.
"Holding cultural events, involving Iranian expatriates and students in advertizing campaigns, including tourism data on the embassies' websites, introducing the influential media groups in target countries and taking part in their programs are among our proposals," he said.
Consular officials could also offer innovative services in cyberspace, conduct surveys on the reasons for refusing to travel to Iran, introduce cultural events in Iran and cooperate closely with tour operators, he added. Pouya Mahmoudian, the handicrafts deputy, also pointed to the methods these representatives can employ to help the development of handicrafts exports.
"Embassies can help the handicrafts sector find their way to new markets while retaining old ones, set up permanent centers for the sale of handmade products [in foreign countries], organize auctions and allocate a space in their premises to display the items," she said.
Cultural Engagement
The cultural heritage deputy, Mohammad Hassan Talebian, highlighted the importance of cultural diplomacy and called for cooperation in fostering ties between Iranian and foreign museums and launching joint research and restoration projects on historical sites. "We expect embassies to offer assistance to ICHHTO in claiming Iranian historical objects and returning them to their home," he said.
Talebian also emphasized that any cultural property kept in embassies should be identified and listed so as to receive proper protection. Ambassadors and consular officials expressed their opinions as well.
Developing the infrastructure for health tourism, providing embassies with a list of expos, festival and rituals in Iran as well as CDs containing promotional material, using genuine and new handicraft items as gifts for foreign delegations, revising visa prices and establishing permanent handicraft markets were among their requests. Mounesan explained that the health tourism sector is set to be properly regulated thanks to the establishment of a joint committee with the Health Ministry.
"We have agreed that the services to tourists up until their admission to the hospital be covered by ICHHTO and the Health Ministry take charge afterwards," he said, expressing hope that the sector will further develop on the back of this mechanism.
He also said a tourism calendar has been prepared and will be given to embassies so that they can publicize cultural events worldwide.
