TEHRAN--Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Seyyed Reza Salehi-Amiri appreciated the role of women in Iran’s tourism sector, adding that some half of the country's tourism capacity is held by women.

Between 30 and 40 percent of management positions in hotels and 60 percent of ecotourism management are held by women, he said. 

Speaking at the gathering of influential women in tourism, which was held in the presence of the Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, Zahra Behrouz-Azar, at the Sa’dabad Historical and Cultural Complex on Monday, he said that women have a powerful presence in the field of tourism and are responsible for 30 percent of the capacity of guides and 50 percent of the capacity of travel agencies.

He said that women have the right to assume half of the government's capacities, adding: “Our approach is to entrust the work to women. We must move beyond the approach of petrification and inaction and accept that anyone who is worthy can be the standard-bearer. The fact is that wherever we entrusted work to the women, we were successful.”

Salehi-Amiri said that Iranian women are motivated to prove their abilities and professional competence. It should be believed that the development will not be possible without half of the population of the society, he added.

The minister continued that Iranian women need equal status. “We must believe that in a society, humanity has an identity. The Iranian government believes in the presence of women in power. In a moral and humane society, gender has no place and all humans enjoy equal and fair rights.”

He added: “The worst form of view is the instrumental view towards women. We must get out of this contemptuous view. No one has the right to use this capacity instrumentally, it is the right of women to occupy half of the management positions. Whenever we trusted women and girls, we received a positive response. We are trying to follow this rational path quickly."

“This week is a week of celebration and joy for the Iranian tourism community, and we will hold programs with the presence of women and men active in this industry.” 

Another speaker at the event, Behrouz-Azar said that families spend more time with each other during travel, adding: “We should introduce Iran to the future generation.”

She said: “In some Achaemenid tablets, we see how much attention is paid to women. Today, we pursue maternal privileges in the government, but at the same time, women's demands were pursued. The issue we are talking about today is not something that did not exist before. In the contemporary era, we witnessed the strong presence of women, so much so that the late Imam Khomeini (may Allah have mercy on him) would discuss it in his speeches. We had more than 17,000 women martyrs, war veterans, and freed prisoners of war in the Sacred Defense.”

Behrouz-Azar said, “All programs should be for the formation and advancement of the family system. Article 10 of the Constitution stipulates that all people are under the equal protection of the law. Article 21 is also specific to women. The President emphasizes in all meetings that the potential of women be utilized. Currently, more than 20 management positions have been given to women by the President and four women are working at the deputy level. Our effort is to ensure that the families achieve what they deserve.”

Pointing to family trips with children, she said: “A child feels safe in an environment that is less familiar only with the family. The feeling of seeing new places and new experiences with the family is very important to him. This happens during travel. In today's family, more than anything, we need family members to spend time together.”

She added: “When we talk about Iran, we should know Iran because our country has four seasons. These are things that our children and the future generation should know.”

KD