TEHRAN Deputy head of Iran's Tourism Organization said that according to an official announcement by the International Tourism Organization, Iran will soon become one of the major tourism centers in the world.
Nasrollah Mostofi added that the announcement comes following an increase in the number of tourists visiting Iran and a 30 percent rise in the annual revenue obtained by Iran through its tourism industry.
He stressed that the promotion of Iran's rank from fourth to second on the list of South Asian countries with tourist attractions during the past two years was another reason for the above announcement.
Referring to the number of flights to Iran conducted by international airlines, Mostofi said that some 20 international airlines presently conduct flights to Iran. Foreign tourists prefer to fly to Iran through direct flights, which necessitates the signing of more agreements with foreign airlines by Iran, he noted.
An amount of $500,000 has been allocated to Iran's tourism industry for publicity. In comparison with the budget allocated by other countries to their tourism sectors Spain with similar tourist attractions to Iran has allocated a budget of $147 million for this purpose the amount allocated to Iran's tourism industry is quite insufficient.
Every year some 47 million tourists and 70 million others visit Spain, which earns nearly $30 billion through its tourism industry, the amount being twice the revenue earned by Iran through its oil export.