TEHRAN – Tabriz scored the highest score on the criteria considered, but was introduced by Iran as a candidate for tourism capital for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD 8), said Islem Shohaei, director of the Office of Marketing and Foreign Tourism Development.
He added that Developing Countries 8 sent a call to member states, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, in July this year to choose a tourism capital.
The issue of the choice of capital was announced by the Foreign Tourism Marketing and Development Bureau with the aim of creating participation and equity in notifying the state’s 31 cultural heritage, tourism and handicrafts bureau.
He also said that the state of the country had been to announce one of the cities of the state until August 23 by submitting a comprehensive and complete proposal and submitting a video introducing the city to its marketing and foreign tourism development offices.
Shojaei continued that these cities were assessed based on indicators released by the D8 Secretariat in the Review and Evaluation Committee of the Agency for Marketing and Foreign Tourism Development.
According to him, indicators released by the D8 Secretariat include sustainable infrastructure, preservation of cultural heritage, conservation of innovation and technology, safety and security of tourists, promotion and marketing of intercultural interactions, urban impacts and sociocultural impacts.
According to the aforementioned indicators, the highest score of Tabriz city was introduced in 2026 as a candidate for D8 tourism capital after assessing cities introduced by the state’s general office.
Shojaei noted that the final outcome of the selection of D8 tourism capital in competition with candidates from other member countries will be introduced by the D8 Secretariat.
The developing eight include Iran, Türkiye, Egypt, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan.
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