TEHRAN – The Ministry of Education plans to develop students’ skills in the field of tourism and help them preserve cultural heritage.

The Ministry of Education can cooperate with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts in the fields of travel services, acquaintance with cultural celebrities, preservation of cultural heritage, equipping and enriching cultural places, promoting tourism, Education Minister Mohsen Haji-Mirzaei said.

Supporting the development of handicrafts, holding specialized courses and workshops, participating in the establishment of vocational schools by teaching the necessary skills to the students, and the provision of skilled labor, are the other fields of cooperation, he added, IRNA reported on Sunday.

Iran ranks 10th in the world in terms of the number of historical monuments and sites registered on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Before the Islamic Revolution, Persepolis, Naghsh-e Jahan Square, and Choghaznabil were the only three UNESCO-listed monuments, but today the number has been increased this number to 24 historical sites.

The Islamic Republic expects to reap a bonanza from its numerous tourist spots such as bazaars, museums, mosques, bridges, bathhouses, madrasas, mausoleums, churches, towers, and mansions, of which 24 being inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Under the 2025 Tourism Vision Plan, it aims to increase the number of tourist arrivals from 4.8 million in 2014 to 20 million in 2025. So it will undeniably try its best to achieve a relatively ambitious goal but when that happens the travel industry is likely to look more altered.

The latest available data show eight million tourists visited the country during the first ten months of the past Iranian calendar year (ended March 20).

Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Minister Ali-Asghar Mounesan has said that Iran’s tourism has suffered a loss of 12 trillion rials (some $2.85 billion) since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

The government has allocated a total of 500 trillion rials (about $12 billion) to the corona-affected sectors, of which 200 trillion rials ($4.7 billion) will be given to the health ministry and the rest will be spent on other sectors, he explained.

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