Iran’s Northern City of Ardabil Hosts Int’l Conference on Tourism

The conference is being held in three specialized meetings including management and economy of tourism, geography and tourism, and art and archeology.  

A wide range of issues, including tourism marketing, cultural tourism, urban and rural tourism, sports tourism, health tourism, agricultural tourism as well as planning and policy making for tourism are to be discussed during the conference.

The conference is the second international tourism conference which is being held in Ardabil within a month.

The 2nd edition of ECO Tourism Conference was held in the province last month.

With 118 hot mineral springs, Ardebil province is the hub of hot springs in Iran. Local officials are encouraging investments in hot spring spas for hydrotherapy and creating hotels and residential centers.   

Each year, some one million tourists from Azerbaijan Republic visit Ardebil mostly for hydrotherapy services.

Iran is adopting important polices to enhance its tourism industry.

Last month, the Iranian government decided to grant the Chinese nationals willing to visit the country a visa-free travel.

Iran has taken some similar steps to increase its revenues from tourism under US sanctions.

Iranian Government Spokesman Ali Rabiyee announced earlier in June that the country had decided not to stamp the passports of foreign tourists to help them skip the US travel ban.

"President Hassan Rouhani assigned the airport police not to stamp passports of foreign tourists. Taking into consideration the fact that the US is practicing the economic terrorism plans and people who travel to Iran may feel a bit afraid that they may be pressured by the US," Rabiyee told reporters in Tehran.

He added that this can invite more tourists to Iran.

Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration, issued on January 27 2017, indefinitely bars Syrian refugees from entering the US, suspends the admission of all refugees for 120 days and blocks citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen – from entering the country for 90 days.

Introduced as a policy to “protect its citizens from foreign nationals who intend to commit terrorist attacks in the United States”, the order has provoked a storm of protest worldwide. Foreign governments reminded the US president of his obligations under international human rights law, such as the Geneva Refugee Convention, of which the US is a signatory.

Iran is one of the most beautiful countries in the world with a 2500-year-old civilization, a country that is the destination of millions of foreign tourists each year.

Tourist attractions, legendary towns, recreational centers and a delicious cuisine are only a small part portion of the great features of this country. 

The most visited cities of Iran include Kish Island, Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad and northern cities. Due to the popularity of these cities, tourists have numerous tourist attractions and various entertainment venues, delicious food and rich culture in Iran.

Many tourists from different countries have admitted in many sites and books that Iranian cuisine surprises them and are ready to come back to Iran only to repeat the pleasure of eating. From barbecue and various types of sours and soups and dishes from different cities to various Iranian desserts, all are so famous to the world that the telegraph magazine as well as FOOD REPUBLIC have published a list of several delicious and popular Iranian food.