Eturbo News: rano-European Consortium will invest $2 billion in Iran tourism. This was disclosed by Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, vice president and head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO).
According to Islamic Republic News Agency, Mashaei said such investments in tourism sector mainly focus on establishment of infrastructures and improvement of rendering tourist services and facilities.
“Iranian government is firmly determined to use the country’s historical and natural capacities,” he said.
The ICHHTO head said that in a meeting with the Spanish minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Joan Clos, agreement was reached on formation of a joint committee for implementation of memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the two sides in the sector.
According to the news agency, turning to his meeting with the United Nations deputy secretary general of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), Taleb Rafaei in Madrid, he said that the readiness of WTO for cooperation with Iran was declared. “Besides, he said that WTO is prepared to ignore the false image of Iran built up by the Western media and exposed to the world public opinion. Meanwhile, at the meeting I expressed Iranian expectations from WTO and Spain to help eliminate the negative impacts on the public opinion created by the political ill-wishers of Iran,” he added.
Among the other developments in Iran, Mashaei shared that around 1,000 major recreational and tourist centers based on international standards will be established in Iran. Also, ICHTHO intends to present electronic visas to applicants online, whose issuance currently takes 25 days.
“Fast visas would be issued at all entrances of the country for tourists intending to enter Iran by air, land and sea and such visas validity can be extended for a month,” he said.
Meanwhile, Spain’s Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos lauded Iran’s key role in Middle East affairs and regional developments, according to the agency.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is an influential country in the region and, therefore, Madrid is interested in pursuing talks between the two countries’ officials,” he said.
He reportedly expressed hope that Tehran and Madrid can take effective measures to help solve regional problems and make efforts to achieve lasting peace in the entire region. |