TEHRAN— Iran has been able to overcome the tourism recession faster than many countries in a few months after the 12-day Israeli war against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

This is while, the number of incoming tourists from many countries decreases by up to 50 percent following a natural or security disaster.

Moslem Shojaei, the Tourism Ministry’s director-general for marketing and foreign tourism development, stated that phenomena such as the 12-day war in the region or even small terrorist incidents can cause a recession of up to two years for many countries, but Iran was able to get close to normal in a short time due to its cultural diversity, four seasons, and unique historical and social attractions, IRNA reported.

Stating that 7.4 million foreign tourists entered Iran last year, he added: “In October and November of this year, the number of foreign tourists increased by 10.9 and 12.7 percent respectively. We witnessed a seven-percent increase in foreign tourists compared to the same period last year. But since May, with the beginning of the regional developments, the number of tourists has decreased by 20 percent in June, by 52.6 percent in July, by 22.7 percent in August, and by about 18 percent in September.”

Shojaei continued that the number of tourists entering the country increased by 48.5 percent during March-April 2025 compared to the same period of the year before, which was the result of the positive trend before the crisis. “But with the outbreak of the 12-day war, the growth stopped, and in total, in the first eight months of this year, the number of foreign tourists decreased by about eight percent compared to the same period last year.” He emphasized that the macro policy of the country and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts is maximum interaction with the other countries to boost tourism. For example, the international Nowruz summit will be held again this year after a break of several years. We are also looking to host various international events.”

He said: “Participating in international events, trying to register cultural works in the UNESCO World Heritage List, producing digital Iranian tourism content titled ‘Majestic Iran’ (Visit Iran) in 17 languages, and collaborating with global influencers are some of the measures we have taken to further introduce Iran in the international arena. Also, hosting the global Nowruz event and international tourism event in Isfahan are among our recent achievements.”

Shojaei described the tourism industry's most important challenge as the spread of Iranophobia in Western media and the instillation of a sense of insecurity when traveling to Iran. The budget is very limited in face of toxic propaganda from Western media, which has up to 800 million visitors daily, he said, adding: “We are trying to present a realistic image of Iran with a creative policy and multimedia content.”

KD