Mahir Ünal, Turkey's Culture and Tourism Minister paid an official visit to Tehran, Iran. Turkish investors are going to build at least 10 hotels in Iran and increase flight connections between two countries as a part of an agreement signed between Turkey and Iran.
Following the minister’s visit, another announcement was made about the flight service: the number of flights between the two countries is also set to increase in order to attract more Iranian tourists to Turkey and Turkish travelers to Iran.
Mr. Ünal met with Iranian Vice President Masoud Soltanifar while representatives from the Turkish tourism sector met with Iranian counterparts in Tehran to discuss investment and cooperation opportunities. As a result of bilateral meetings the two leaders signed the 4th Tourism Cooperation Technical Committee Meeting Protocol. Representatives from the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB), the Turkish Tourism Investors Association (TYD), the Hotel Association of Turkey (TUROB) and the Turkish Hoteliers Federation (TÜROFED) joined Mr. Mahir Ünal at his visit to Tehran.
Turkish investors plan to build hotels in Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz and Mashad and share their experiences in the tourism sector with Iranian tourism professionals. Both countries will offer incentives and other facilities to travel agencies and tour operators regarding investments in the tourist industry. The protocol agreement also stipulates that charter and scheduled flights from Iran to Turkey will be increased as will the number of flight destinations to Turkey in an attempt to attract more Iranian tourists to the country. Turkey and Iran are going to carry out joint promotional activities in distant countries like China, Indonesia and Malaysia and conduct joint package tours to those countries.
Culture and Tourism Ministry data shows that the number of Iranian tourists visiting Turkey was 1.7 million in 2015 - 6.9 percent higher than the previous year. A total of 467,833 Iranian tourists visited Turkey in the first quarter of 2016, marking a 7.42 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
