stop advertising programs for travel to Iran; Compulsory change in the way of advertising

Following the reduction of foreign travel and the cancellation of many flights of international airlines on the route to Iran, the Director General of Marketing and Development of Foreign Tourism announced the change in the advertising and promotion methods of Iran’s travel and tourism and said:

The situation is beyond the will of the tourism department. These problems cannot be solved with a magic wand. Nevertheless, tourism advertising and travel promotion programs to Iran have not stopped and for now we are focused on neighboring and regional bases and other methods of tourism advertising.

Muslim Shojaei announced the statistics of travel to Iran until the end of the first 6 months of this year and before the recent events, more than 4 million and 168 thousand people and told “Isna”:

If the events of recent months had not happened, the number of tourists and travelers entering Iran would have been more than this number. Unfortunately, due to recent events, the plans of many individual travelers and tourist groups (tours) to Iran have been canceled. This is the case both for the peak period of foreign tourist demand in spring and autumn this year. Most of the arrivals in the country in the last 6 months have been recorded from Iraq, Afghanistan, Türkiye, Pakistan and Persian Gulf countries. Also, before the cancellation of foreign flights, in the last seven months (from March 1402 to the end of September 1403), from the total of 28 countries with which Iran has unilaterally canceled visas, we have seen an average growth of 25% in travel to Iran. As out of 28 countries, 16 countries have had continuous growth, including Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, India, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Bosnia and Serbia.

The director of foreign tourism development explained about Iran’s international tourism strategy in the current situation:

The events that have happened in the region and the country are beyond our will and power as the agency in charge of tourism, and this problem cannot be solved with a magic wand in the short term. Whenever we pass this stage, we can seriously pursue medium and long-term plans. Before the events of the last one or two months, the General Directorate of Tourism Development had started extensive advertising programs in the countries with which Iran has unilaterally canceled visas; In addition to the roadshows that have been held in a number of Southeast Asian countries and India, influencer marketing tours from India, Jordan and Egypt were also planned to be held in Iran, which has been stopped due to the situation. .

Shojaei emphasized that Iran’s tourism advertising programs are issues that can be implemented after passing the current conditions.

In the current situation, Iran’s tourism promotion programs have not been stopped, but the nature and type of implementation has changed, which has a corresponding effect. The current issue is completely security and not even political, and with these conditions, the mediation measures that are sometimes suggested, such as holding a meeting with the Supreme National Security Council or inviting the ambassadors of the countries that have put Iran on the red list, cannot be fruitful at the moment. We must pass the stage. We hope this transition period will be shorter and shorter; Because its prolongation will cause irreparable damage to the country’s tourism industry and its private sector.

At the same time, Shujaei stated:

Despite this situation, which would take such a strategy if it happened in any other country, the focus is currently on neighboring and regional bases; A place that is less affected by these conditions. In fact, we are not staying still, we will hold a meeting of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) countries in Yazd in November, and the tourism ministers of these countries have been invited to travel to Iran, and we will also be present at foreign tourism exhibitions, for the event of introducing the capacities We have planned a roadshow of Iran in the countries of the region, the first of which will probably be at the end of November. In any case, we will not back down and leave the tourism market, but the way of implementation and the type of programs will be proportional and affected by the current situation. The