Tehran – Iran’s Deputy Tourism Minister Anoushirvan Mohseni Bandpei and Managing Director of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) Aftab Ur Rehman Rana used Iran’s health tourism capabilities and held sightseeing tours, increasing in the number of direct flights between Iran and Pakistan.
According to Mehr’s news agency, Mohseni Bandpei met with members of Pakistan National Assembly Aftab Ur Rehman Rana and Ali Zahid Hamid, on the 6th Ministerial Conference on the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) held in 2025 at Erzurum, the designated ECO tourism capital.
Both sides expressed their willingness to promote tourism transactions.
The Pakistani portion also declared that it would send a pilgrimage tour to Iran. Additionally, they would like to host group and family tours and host cultural and recreational tours to Iranian destinations.
Pakistani officials expressed their hope that Iran will take steps to issue visas for Pakistani citizens.
Both sides were asked to increase ties between Iran and Pakistani tour guides. They also urged health tourism to increase facilities at the land borders of Iran and Pakistan to promote tourist mobility.
The Erzrum Conference, along with the Eco Secretariat, Turkish national organizations and representatives from Turkey’s Cyprus province, gathered tourism leaders from nine Eco member countries to discuss strategies to enhance regional tourism cooperation and development.
The session was made public in the comments of Ambassador Assad Majeed Khan, Secretary-General of Eco. He highlighted the important role of tourism in promoting regional integration and highlighted the ECO’s continued initiative to enhance tourism collaboration.
Mehmet Nuri Elsoy, Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, also worked on the rally, presenting Turkey’s outcomes and strategic outlook for the tourism sector.
During the meeting, Ministers approved the designations of the eco-tourism capital in 2027, Mary and Turkmenistan in 2028, and Lahore in Karakol in 2029, recognised the unique cultural heritage and tourism potential of these cities.
The discussion further reviewed the progress of tourism cooperation within the ECO framework and examined the development of tourism-related components of the ECO’s new strategic vision over the next decade.
An important highlight of the event was the official release of the first edition of the Eco Tourism Investment Guide. It is a publication aimed at attracting investment and promoting tourism opportunities across the Eco region.
The conference concluded with the adoption of the “Erzurum Declaration,” which stipulated collective commitments and outlined future directions to strengthen regional tourism cooperation and sustainable development.
KD