Recent editions of many international tourism journals, including National Geographic, have referred to Iran as a top emerging tourism destination, which can contribute to rise in the number of foreign tourist arrivals to the country, said Morteza Rahmani Movahed, the deputy head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization.
"We have reached an overall consensus that expansion of tourism is vital for Iran to expedite sustainable development and increase employment," said Rahmani Movahed at a groundbreaking ceremony for the largest tourism and recreational complex of Sirjan, in Kerman Province.
The official said tourism industry would provide Iran with sustainable earnings.
"Tourism industry generates nine percent of global GDP whereas in Iran, tourism is responsible for 6.5 percent of the GDP," he noted.
Rahmani Movahed said the Iran has made ceaseless efforts to promote tourism following the agreement with P5+1 on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Noting that Sixth Development Plan (2016-2021) has placed great importance on expansion of tourism, Rahmani Movahed said Iran is to host the 2017 World Federation of Tourist Guide Association in line with the development of the tourism industry.
The official described southern Kerman Province as one of the most attractive provinces in Iran, whose three historical sites namely Bam Citadel, Shahzadeh Garden, and Pre-historical Meymand Village, have been registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
"Cisterns of Kerman and Lut Desert, known as ‘Kavir-e Lut’, will soon be registered on the World Heritage List," he said, explaining that Kavir-e Lut is Iran's first natural attraction up for global registration.
The official said the number of foreign visitors to Kerman Province has witnessed a growth of between 30 and 35 percent over the past two years.
"Kerman has an important role in the growth of tourism industry," he said.
Russians tourists
Also, Jalal Ebrahimi, the head of Iran-Turkey Joint Trade Council, said many countries seek to draw Russian tourists from Turkey and Egypt following downing of Russian airplane by Turkey which led to the deterioration in relations of the two nations.
He said Iran must take advantage of this to attract Russians.
Ebrahim Pourfaraj, the head of Association of Tour Guides, said Russian tourists are generally go for beach and sunbathing, which makes it hard to attract them to Iran since it is more known for historical and cultural attractions.
"However, Iran can still earn huge revenues from that few numbers of Russians who prefer Iran's historical sites and natural attractions," he said.
Pourfaraj said Russian have a poor knowledge about Iran in view of the low publicity.
He said Iran has recently set up an office in Russia to introduce the country's tourism sites to the Russians.
Statistics show that about 8,500 Russians visited Iran in 2014.
Iran has recently announced that it welcomes visa waivers for Russian tourists thus easing travel restrictions and increase the number of Russian arrivals to the country.
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