TEHRAN - Joint tourism cooperation between Iran and Turkey could increase the number of visitors to the northwestern Iranian city of Khoy, a local tourism expert said on Thursday.

Mohammad Rezaei, a tourism expert in Khoy, told Mehr news agency that expanding infrastructure and developing cooperation with Turkey would attract more travelers to the city, home to the mausoleum of Shams Tabrizi, the 13th-century mystic and mentor of Rumi.

“Shams Tabrizi is a transnational figure, and his admirers are not limited to Iran,” Rezaei said. “Many Turkish tourists, especially those traveling to Konya, could include Khoy in their itineraries if joint tourism packages with the cities of Van and Konya are created.”

Rezaei said a “Shams–Rumi cultural route” linking Khoy and Konya could establish Khoy as a permanent destination for visitors interested in Sufism and Persian literature. He added that such a route would generate jobs in local ecotourism, handicrafts and services.

He proposed multilingual signage, better visitor services at the mausoleum, the use of foreign-language tour guides and the creation of an annual calendar of Shams commemoration events. He also suggested combined “Khoy–Van–Konya” tours to be marketed jointly by the two countries.

“A pilgrimage and cultural route from Khoy to Van and then Konya could be promoted as a shared tourism brand between Iran and Turkey,” Rezaei said, adding that the proximity of Khoy to the Turkish border made the project feasible.

Rezaei also recommended thematic tours with poetry recitations and Sufi music performances to attract international visitors, as well as academic exchanges between Iranian and Turkish universities to expand cultural cooperation.

A historic trade hub

Khoy, in Iran’s West Azarbaijan province, has long been a crossroads of culture and commerce.

Shams Tabrizi (1185–1248), whose teachings influenced Rumi, remains a central figure in Persian mystical literature. He is the namesake of Rumi’s Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi and is traditionally believed to have spent 40 days in seclusion with Rumi in Konya before departing for Damascus.

AM