Tehran promotes tourism at ITB Berlin

Tehran – ITB Berlin (Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin), which stands out as the world’s leading travel fair, has given a foretaste of Iran. Due to the pandemic, ITB Berlin took place from March 9th to 12th with around 3,300 exhibitors from 120 countries.

The Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Crafts and several privately owned companies promoted the country and brought home the message of diversity and wealth in the leisure, culture, nature and medicine of tourism.

“The presence of the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially the private sector, at this fair shows the dynamism of the country’s tourism industry after a year of closure … and we declare in this exhibition that we are ready to restart tourism after the containment get back on the trail of the epidemic, ”said Vali Teymouri, Deputy Head of Tourism.

The number of foreign visitors to Iran decreased by 94% in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (since March 20, 2020). A year earlier, government data on Wednesday showed that the coronavirus pandemic is taking a heavy toll on the tourism industry.

“In the first nine months of the year, around 450,000 foreign travelers came to Iran mainly for medical or commercial purposes. Tightened measures to combat the new coronavirus have reduced international travel to the country by 94 percent,” the official said.

The global tourism industry has been plagued by the coronavirus outbreak for more than a year, which is a record in the history of the industry, the official said. In an interview with the Tehran Times, the official remarked, “We need to revise marketing strategies and redefine tourism products by paying close attention to nature tours, rural tourism and ecotourism, as well as agrotourism as a tool for empowering local communities and travel companies.”

Tourism Minister Ali-Asghar Mounesan announced in February that the country’s tourism industry has lost around 220 trillion rials (about $ 5.2 billion at an official exchange rate of 42,000 rials per dollar) since the coronavirus pandemic broke out . “Iranian tourism has so far suffered around 220 trillion rials due to the corona pandemic…. and we hope that with the manufacture of indigenous vaccines, tourism will flourish in 1400 [the new Iranian calendar year which begins on March 21]”Said Mounesan.

“COVID-19 has lost over 1.5 million jobs in the Iranian tourism sector. Many of the tourism insiders are now unemployed or staying at home, ”said Mounesan. Iranian tourism officials are optimistic about the fate of national tourism once the virus wears off.

AFM /