TEHRAN – Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts has launched an online training program on tourism marketing aimed at attracting Chinese visitors, with support from the UN Tourism (United Nations World Tourism Organization), an official said on Thursday.

The six-hour course, held over three days in English, is being conducted as part of UN Tourism’s technical assistance to Iran, said Moslem Shojaei, the ministry’s director-general for marketing and tourism development.

Shojaei said the program was requested from UN Tourism a year ago in response to changes in global marketing trends. He added that the course is designed to improve knowledge in both public and private sectors and was developed in cooperation with Chinese universities to strengthen Iran’s position in the Chinese market.

Around 50 representatives from private associations, tourism operators, and ministry offices from provinces including Isfahan, Tehran, Fars, Kerman, Khuzestan, Gilan, Golestan and Kermanshah are participating.

According to Shojaei, the training covers marketing methods, tools for promoting tourism products, innovative and technology-based approaches for showcasing Iran, understanding the preferences of Chinese tourists, and reviewing other countries’ activities in the Chinese market.

Shojaei said China is the world’s largest source of outbound tourists, both in numbers and spending, citing UN Tourism data. He pointed to the country’s expanding middle class, rising incomes, digital infrastructure and government travel facilitation policies as drivers of market growth.

He said Iran sees the Chinese market as strategically important not only in terms of visitor numbers but also for cultural, historical, commercial and nature-based tourism.

Earlier in July, the Islamic Republic called on the Chinese government to lift visa requirements for Iranian nationals wishing to visit China, in a move aimed at deepening bilateral cultural and tourism ties. The proposal was made by Hojjatollah Ayyubi, Senior Advisor to the Iranian Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts and Head of the Ministry’s International Center, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) ministerial meeting on culture and tourism.

In 2019, the Iranian government unilaterally waived the visa requirement for Chinese nationals willing to visit the country. The decision was made to attract more foreign tourists to the ancient country.

AM