TEHRAN (CHN) – The afternoon session of the second day of The First International Conference on Tourism and Handicrafts started Sunday with an introduction by John Bell, former BBC reporter, and then the experts and authorities from Iran and other countries delivered speeches about handicraft marketing and the role of tourism in developing handicrafts.

The afternoon session ended with the lectures of Jonathan Karkut, project developer and manager of International Institute for Culture, Tourism and Development of London Metropolitan University, and Kenan Zekic, Consultant on Project Planning and Design of the British Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina about “Handicrafts Conservation and Design”.

In an interview with CHN, Xu Jing, UNWTO’s regional representative for Asia and the Pacific, classified Iran among Asian countries and not a Middle Eastern country and said: “From the UN point of view, Iran is considered an Asian country and from the tourism perspective it would be more beneficial for Iran to be linked with Asia because Asia is very much booming in tourism industry in comparison with the Middle Eastern countries.”

For promoting the tourism industry of Iran, he suggested that Iran’s tourism be linked to its cultural heritage.

“One of the best ways that these two can be brought together is to integrate the elements of culture, including handicrafts, in tourism. There is no doubt that Iran’s tangible and intangible heritage are at the top grade among all countries in the world. However, this does not mean that the richness of cultural heritage automatically leads to a strong tourism industry. Iran needs to establish a connection between its cultural heritage resources and tourism products. This is the key issue that I think Iran should pay more attention to.”

Regarding the negative image drawn against Iran and broadcasted through Mass Media and its effect on Iran’s ability to attract tourists, Mr. Jing stated that: “As a tourist what we are always looking for is what the host country can offer. I refuse to believe that Iran can not be as attractive as India or China because it once had an equally attractive civilization. But the question that remains is how to do the marketing. There are some geopolitical factors that affect the tourism industry. The best way for tourism professionals is not to avoid them; every thing should be transparent, let the people see for themselves.

"Also, the more Iran invites people to come to this country by arranging tours for them, the more they can get to know about Iran. This would be possible through organizing press groups, holding exhibitions and all related measures that Iran could accomplish for increasing the exchange of visitors.”

He concluded that Iran with its great potentials can do a lot to promote its tourism industry and remove the existing barriers. He also considered this conference very helpful in this regard.

Tim Bartlett, UNWTO consultant and president of the Tourism and Hotel Advisory Services, in an interview with CHN, expressed his point of view about the situation of Iran’s hotels and the policies that Iran must take into consideration for developing its tourism industry and raising the standards of its hotels. He said: “UNWTO has several development plans in developing countries about promoting the services that hotels can offer the tourists. From the time I have come to Tehran, I stayed in Esteghlal Hotel and as hotel advisor, I may say that it is a very good hotel which complies with high standards; but I like to see more traditional handicrafts in the hotels. I think Iran should try to incorporate local tradition into its hotels.”

He believes that for facing the realities of the life in a country and getting familiar with its culture, a person who visits a country even for a short while should not stay at hotel all the time.

“If one just stays at a hotel, he or she can never experience the truth of life of the people including their lifestyle, their food, and many more. This is the issue that was mentioned in this conference too,” said Bartlett.

Mr. Bartlett also pointed to the advantages of having an international grading and inspection system for monitoring the hotel services throughout the world so the people could be confident about the services they receive: “When you have quality grading system, people know for example what to expect from a 5 star hotel. There are several schemes in different countries, but I know Europe is trying to standardize these schemes. It would be good for tourists if all these standards become universal but it is a big project to bring them under the same rule since countries are strict about their own policies. There are countries that do not have 5 star hotels, but they say that their 3 star hotels are 5. Of course these are only some of the problems we have in this area,” he added.

He concluded by saying that establishing a monitoring system could lead into an increase in the quality of services in hotels and therefore better services can be offered to those who like to visit a country.

The final day of the First International Conference on Tourism and Handicrafts will be concluded today by farewell remarks, video presentation of the conference, Tehran Declaration on Tourism and Handicrafts, and presentation of plaque of appreciation to Iran by UNWTO.