TEHRAN – Iran and Iraq have opened a new chapter in tourism cooperation by launching Iran’s first tourism roadshow in the country with the participation of 80 delegates.
The roadshow will also include Iranian tourism officials and industry representatives and will be held in the Iraqi cities of Basra, Baghdad and Karbala. The initiative aims to promote tourism exchanges, strengthen bilateral relations and explore new cooperation opportunities in the travel and hospitality sector.
According to ILNA, 11.5 million tourists travel between Iran and Iraq annually, of which 8 million are Iranian tourists to Iraq and 3.5 million are Iraqi tourists to Iran, based on statements from Iranian and Iraqi cultural heritage ministry officials.
However, despite the fact that there are significant tourism exchanges between Iran and Iraq and more than 50 percent of Iranian tourists come from Iraq, no tourism or cultural events were held between the two countries to attract tourists.
Moslem Shojaei, Director of the Marketing and Foreign Tourism Development Department of the Ministry of Tourism, in a meeting with Nasser Ghanem Murad, Director General of the Tourism Authority of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities, pointed out the submission of an implementation plan by the Iranian Ministry of Cultural Heritage for the development of tourism cooperation between Iran and Iraq.
He called on Ghanem Murad to approve the program and facilitate the signing of a formal agreement between the two governments to develop tourism cooperation.
Emphasizing the close cooperation between the two national sectors in the development of tourism cooperation, he said that the development of tourism relations between Iran and Iraq and the introduction of more tourism products in the fields of pilgrimage, health, history and culture depend on the holding of the two annual meetings of the Iran-Iraq Tourism Technical Committee.
Iraqi and Iranian tourists have diverse pilgrimage and recreational needs in the tourism sector, and the development of tourism in Iran and Iraq will be achieved if the two countries deepen their understanding of their diverse tourism capabilities.
Minister Shojaei emphasized that Iran and Iraq are each other’s first tourism markets, adding that tourism exchanges between the two countries should increase at the level of government officials, especially at the private sector level, and that Iran and Iraq should reach the highest level of exchange in tourism development.
Referring to the impact of tourism advertising in Iran and Iraq, he said that two-way marketing and advertising of Iranian and Iraqi tourism in both countries is the most important need in developing tourism relations between Iran and Iraq.
During the meeting, Ghanem Murad agreed to the implementation of the Iran-Iraq tourism document and said that the Iranian Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts or other officials will visit Baghdad or the final Iran-Iraq tourism document will be signed in the presence of Iraqi officials in Tehran.
He also approved the proposal for bilateral marketing and advertising of Iranian and Iraqi tourism in both countries, stating that apart from the issue of pilgrimage, tourism marketing and advertising is the most important element in recognizing the tourism capabilities of both countries, and stressed the need for cooperation between governments and the private sector in this field.
Tourism cooperation between Iran and Iraq was held for the first time in the form of the Iranian Tourism Roadshow in Iraq for four days, with the efforts of the Iranian Association of Travel Agents and the cooperation of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism of Iran, which led to the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the bilateral sectors.
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