Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 13
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
The Iranian administration places a top priority on the security of foreign tourists, Iran's first vice president Es'haq Jahangiri said.
He said even the non-Muslim tourists should benefit from their legitimate rights in the country, Iran's Mehr news agency reported on Feb. 13.
He made the remarks in the opening ceremony of the 8th international tourism exhibition which was held on Feb. 12 in Tehran.
The promotion of tourism is among strategic policies of the administration, he noted.
"We should replace oil revenues with alternative sources of income, as the country is facing with a plunge in oil price, and there's a rise of jobless people," he added. "Tourism can be a good source of income for economic development and job creation."
According to Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) reports, the number of European tourists who travel to Iran in the first half of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21 - September 22) has increased by 200 percent compared to same period of the previous year.
ICHHTO Director Masoud Soltanifar said on October 24 that Iran's share out of the world's total $1.25 trillion tourism industry is only 0.5 percent.
"It is while Iran is among world's top countries in terms of tourist attractions," he said. "The country's share should at least be 3 percent."
"Iran's tourism industry earned only $6 billion in the previous calendar year (which ended on March 20)," he explained.