TEHRAN– There is a need for a platform in the tourism field to support new ideas, their implementation as well as their dissemination, the deputy tourism minister has said.

To achieve this plan and implement new ideas, as well as utilize each other’s experiences in the tourism sector, cohesion among the tourism-related organizations in different provinces across the country is essential, Ali-Asghar Shalbafian explained on Monday.

For the tourism sector to thrive, provinces must work together and think jointly, he added.

Currently, a wide range of innovations are taking place in the provinces, intending to attract diverse audiences, but they are not promoted properly and adequate means must be in place for them to be shown, the official noted.

Although some provinces have achieved success in establishing inter-institutional interaction, more appropriate infrastructure should be provided for them, he mentioned.

The private sector also needs to be encouraged and supported for investing in the tourism sector, he stated.

Back in July, the official announced that more than 700 tourism events were held across Iran during the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21).

“710 tourism events in the forms of festivals, exhibitions, and different rituals have been held in various provinces during the first four months of the year,” he said.

That number shows over a two-fold increase in comparison to the same period last year, the official added.

Festivals on agritourism, indigenous rituals, gastronomy, and cooking - on local, regional, and national scales - constituted the lion’s share of the tourism events this year, Shalbafian said.

The ancient country has a culturally diverse society dominated by a wide range of interethnic relations. Native speakers of Persian (Farsi language) are considered as the predominant ethnic generally of mixed ancestry, and the country has important Turkic, Kurd, and Arab elements in addition to the Lurs, Baloch, Bakhtiari, and other smaller minorities such as Armenians, Assyrians, and Jews.

ABU/AM