Tehran, Iran, February 17
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
Iran's tourism industry has shown early signs of development just a few weeks after the country's comprehensive deal with world powers was put into practice and rid the country of sanctions.
"It's been awesome, to tell you the truth. We don't have a single free room in all of Tehran," Omid Agha Amiri, public relations chief at Laleh Hotels Group told Trend's journalist on February 17 at the Tehran International Tourism Exhibition fairground.
"[The tourists] come mostly from Europe and the US and for business the greater part of the time," he added.
A marketing expert from at Iran Travel and Tourism Hotels Group told Trend that a lot of visitors are coming to Iran these days, especially from Belgium, Germany, and Turkey.
But, as much as incoming tourism has grown, outgoing tourism has been witnessing a kind of freeze in the post-sanctions period.
"There has been no improvement. The last several weeks, the numbers were low. But since the revolution anniversary of February 11, they started to rise again," a sales supervisor at Keyvan Parvaz travel agency said.
The supervisor also suggested that it may be because Iranians are waiting for the prices to fall amid the removal of sanctions.
"I have heard customers say Istanbul flight fairs will fall by the year's end (March 19)," she further explained.
Aside from Iranians waiting for prices to go down, Iran's outgoing tourism has been also hampered by legal affairs, such as visa procedures.
"I'm here to promote my beautiful country. But the consulate has been telling us how difficult it is for Iranians to get visa to go to Greece," said Panos Kontopoulos, manager of the Greek DMC Travel Directions and member of Hellenic Association of Travel and Tourist Agents.
Iran however, seems determined to improve its tourism mechanism. One can expect Iran's outgoing tourism to grow, following the boost in incoming tourism.
Mehdi Sepahvand is Trend Agency's journalist in Tehran, Iran