Tourism in Iran

Kish Island attracted around 1 million visitors in 2012–13, the majority of whom were Iranian, but the area also attracted non-Iranian Muslims interested in Islamic-style beach holidays where men and women use separate beaches. Before the Iranian revolution in 1979, tourism was characterized by significant numbers of visitors traveling to Iran for its attractions, including culture and landscape suitable for a range of activities. Since the revolution, however, a majority of foreign visitors to Iran have been religious pilgrims and business people. In Iran there are many Shi'ite shrines, the two main ones being Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad and Fatimah al-Ma'sūmah Shrine in Qom. Each year millions of pilgrims from Iran and other Shi'ite countries visit these holy places. Official figures do not distinguish between those traveling to Iran for business and those coming for pleasure, and they also include many diaspora Iranians returning to visit their families in Iran or making pilgrimages to holy Shia sites near Mashhad, Qom and elsewhere. Over five million tourists visited Iran in the fiscal year of 2014–2015, four percent more year-on-year. According to a report published by World Travel and Tourism Council in 2015, the size of its tourism industry was estimated as having the potential to create jobs for 1,285,500 and rise by 4.1% pa to 1,913,000 jobs in 2025. Based on the report in the year of 2014, travel and tourism directly supported 413,000 jobs (1.8% of total employment). This was expected to rise by 4.4% in 2015 and rise by 4.3% pa to 656,000 jobs (2.2% of total employment) by 2025. In October 2018, Ali Asghar Moonesan, the head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHTO), announced that the number of tourists who visited Iran in the first six months of the Iranian year (starting March 21) rose by 51 percent compared to the same period in 2017. in Khalkhal county, Ardabil province ==Foreign visitors==

, Tehran The 2008 figures from the World Tourism Organization for the origin of visitors to Iran show that building up visitors from the Islamic and wider Asian world would have to start from a low base. Around three-quarters of those entering Iran in 1999 came from Europe. Citizens of the US, United Kingdom, and Canada must by law have a tour guide with them at all times. Organized tours from Germany, France, the UK and other European countries come to Iran to visit archaeological sites and monuments. Iran had 21 places on the world cultural heritage list , attracting many cultural tourists. According to official statistics, about 1,659,000 foreign tourists visited Iran in 2004 – although government statistics do not distinguish between tourism, business and religious pilgrims; most came from Asian countries, including the republics of Central Asia, while a small share (about 10%) came from North America and the European Union, including Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, France and Belgium. The most popular tourist destinations were Mazandaran province, Yazd, Isfahan, Mashhad, Gilan province and Fars province. There is scope for increased visitors from the Islamic world, and possibly also from non-Muslim countries with which Iran is developing business and political links, such as China and India. The World Travel and Tourism Council claims that business and personal tourism rose by 11.3% and 4.6%, respectively, in real terms in 2007, with the growth in personal tourism modestly below that of the preceding year. The number of international arrivals increased, up from 2.2 million people in 2009 to 3.6 million in 2011, with per capita spending of $1,850 per visit on average. Over five million tourists visited Iran in the fiscal year of 2014–2015, ending March 21, four percent more year-on-year. Visa requirement Iran has tried to improve its complex and time-consuming visa application process, and started to issue week-long visas for the nationals of 68 countries at airports. Iran has road border crossings connecting it with Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Rail lines from Turkey and Turkmenistan can also be used to enter Iran. About 70% of visitors arrived by land in 2002, about 29% by air and less than 1% by sea. In April 2005, the Imam Khomeini International Airport was reopened under the management of a consortium of four local airlines—Mahan Air, Aseman, Caspian Air and Kish Air—although no formal contract appeared to have been awarded. ==Infrastructure and the economy==

ski resort near Tehran In the early 2000s the industry still faced serious limitations in infrastructure, communications, regulatory norms, and personnel training. In late 2003, there were about 640 hotels in Iran and around 63,000 beds. In recent years, 235 hotels, hotel apartments, motels and guesthouses have become operational nationwide. As of 2010, 400 hotels and 200 hotel apartments are under construction nationwide. Some 66 percent of these projects are underway in the provinces of Tehran, Gilan, Mazandaran, Razavi Khorasan and Isfahan. in Amol Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Iran Iran's Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization is responsible for the establishment, development and operation of tourism facilities in Iran, planning for the repair or extension of tourism facilities through direct investment or providing loans to the private sector or entering into partnership with the private sector, issuing licenses and supervising the establishment and administration of hotels and restaurants and travel agencies and qualification and rating of these units. Area considered for further expansion in the tourism sector in Iran are eco tourism, coastlines, restoration of historical relics, handicraft townships, and health tourism (e.g. water therapy). Iran might become the leading country in the Islamic World when it comes to medical tourism due to a number of reasons that include the country's geographical position, the fluctuation of Iranian currency that leads to lower prices in healthcare services, as well as the development in medical research and technology. The growth rate of the healthcare system which, according to the World Tourism Organization, has increased of 5% in last decade, seems to indicate that in the future Iran will be one of the most visited countries by medical tourists, above all coming from the neighbouring countries, such as Azerbaijan, Iraq and Persian Gulf States. Officials state that Iran has in recent years earned about US$1bn a year from tourism. In order to encourage domestic and foreign direct investment in this sector, the 50 percent tax exemption previously granted to tourism enterprises has been extended to include five-star hotels. Tariffs for utilities comply with industrial ones. ==Outward tourism==

is Iran's national airline Traditionally, only a small number of wealthy Iranian tourists traveled abroad, and the majority of the trips were business departures, mostly to neighboring states in the Persian Gulf and the wider Middle East (1 million each year), Central Asia and Turkey (~1 million). Although this is likely to continue to characterize much Iranian travel abroad, since the change of regime in Iraq in 2003, Iranians from all walks of life have visited their western neighbor. In addition, a large proportion of Iranians traveling abroad are likely to be visiting family, especially in Europe, the US and Australia (~1 million). Following the Iranian subsidy reform plan, airfares in Iran went up by 65% in 2012. In 2012, Iranians spent $18.5 billion on outward tourism. They spent $12 billion to purchase airplane tickets from foreign airlines between the years 2012–2015. ==See also==