Security will make tourism boom
By Moslem Shojaei
Tourism Ministry official
Countries’ social situations and political developments in the world, especially in security issues, have direct impact on their tourism industries.
The industry is of great importance for governments as it accounts for a significant share of their gross domestic product (GDP), and accounts for close to 10% of the world’s employment.
Every year at this time, which coincides with the Chinese New Year, Iran’s tourism industry usually counts on the large number of Chinese tourists for whom Iran has been one of the main destinations for their holidays over the past years.
In the early days of the Iranian year, our country was one of the main destinations for Chinese tourists, after the end of coronavirus pandemic, and the opening of borders by the Chinese government. Given the fact that Iran usually hosts a low number of tourists this time of year, which coincides with the Chinese New Year, Iran has chosen China as one of the markets for attracting foreign tourists.
Given the good political relations between Tehran and Beijing, as well as the measures taken by the two countries on scrapping visa requirements, every year this month, many Chinese tourists used to travel to Iran in a way that Iran had become one of their destinations for their New Year trips. But this year was totally different.
Iran’s tourism industry is now experiencing a considerable decline. The ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and other political developments have had a direct impact on Iran’s tourism, as the country’s travel agencies have seen almost total cancellations of tours from many countries, especially from China.
Despite taking successful measures in recent years to attract Chinese tourists during their New Year holidays, Israel’s devastating war on the Gaza Strip and January’s terrorist attack in Iran’s eastern city of Kerman caused travel agencies to cancel their tours to Iran this year. The war in Gaza has also affected the tourism industry in many Persian Gulf countries.
However, Iran has plans to prevent the continuation of this negative trend. Iran has invited foreign social media influencers with large followings to boost tourism in the country. The influencers are set to travel to Iran in the coming months to visit the country’s tourist attractions and introduce them to the world – a measure which is aimed at reversing the current adverse trend.