TEHRAN - Iran plans to showcase its tourism potential at the Dushanbe International Tourism Exhibition 2026, seeking to expand cooperation between Iranian and Tajik tourism businesses and open new channels for attracting visitors from Tajikistan and the wider region.

Mehdi Babaei, director general for Central Asia, the Caucasus and Russia at the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, said the participation of Iranian companies in the exhibition provides an opportunity to promote the country’s tourism capacities and establish direct links with Tajik tourism businesses.

Companies from several Iranian provinces, particularly Fars, Khorasan Razavi, Tehran and Hormozgan, are participating in the exhibition with booths showcasing their tourism products and services, Babaei said, according to IRNA.

Delegations comprising provincial officials and private-sector representatives from Khorasan Razavi, Isfahan, Fars and Tehran will also visit the exhibition and take part in business meetings and negotiations with their Tajik counterparts, he added.

Babaei said Iran and Tajikistan have significant potential for cooperation in tourism, adding that expanded tourism exchanges could contribute to broader economic and trade relations between the two countries.

In addition to cultural and historical tourism, he identified health, pilgrimage, nature-based, urban and business tourism as areas with potential for bilateral cooperation.

Business meetings and direct contacts among travel agencies, tour operators, hotels and other tourism-sector businesses are among the key opportunities provided by the exhibition for Iran’s private sector, Babaei said.

Such contacts could help Iranian and Tajik companies develop joint tour packages, increase tourist exchanges and establish new business partnerships, he added.

Babaei stressed that the participation of Iranian provinces and private-sector companies is not intended merely as an exhibition presence, but aims to establish business links and turn Iran’s tourism potential into practical and sustainable cooperation with Tajik partners.

The Dushanbe International Tourism Exhibition 2026 (DITE 2026) is being held from September 24 to 26 at the Dushanbe Exhibition Center, with tourism companies and industry representatives from several countries taking part.

AM