Iranian Turkish officials discuss ways to diversify tourism flows

Iranian, Turkish officials discuss ways to diversify tourism flows

TEHRAN – Officials from Iran and Turkey has recently discussed broaden tourism cooperation by moving beyond a focus on a handful of well-known destinations and promoting the diverse attractions of their provinces to each other’s markets.

Dariush Keyhanmehr, head of the Iran-Turkey marketing office, made the remarks after meeting Gokhan Cetinkaya, the newly appointed cultural and tourism counsellor of the Turkish Embassy in Tehran, IRIB news agency reported on Thursday.

Keyhanmehr said the meeting examined ways to expand tourism and cultural cooperation between the two countries and make greater use of provincial capacities to promote destinations, attractions and tourism opportunities in both markets.

He stressed the need to turn existing tourism potential into practical and sustained programs, saying that during Cetinkaya’s mission in Iran, the promotion of Iranian provinces in Turkey and Turkish provinces in Iran should be pursued in a targeted and systematic manner.

Iran and Turkey are among the countries in the region with extensive historical, cultural, natural, urban and tourism resources, he noted, adding that many of these attractions remain unknown or relatively unfamiliar to the public in the two countries.

A direct focus on provinces and individual destinations could provide a more comprehensive picture of each country’s tourism potential, Keyhanmehr said.

He argued that tourism promotion should shift from highlighting a limited number of established destinations toward presenting a network of provinces and diverse attractions. Such an approach, he added, could give travelers more choices, distribute tourism flows geographically, extend visitors’ stays and help less-known destinations develop their tourism potential.

Keyhanmehr also described tourism as more than a destination-marketing tool, saying that reciprocal promotion of provincial attractions could contribute to cultural diplomacy, stronger interaction between local communities and new economic opportunities.

Greater familiarity with each other’s cultural and historical heritage, natural landscapes and lifestyles could help foster deeper and more lasting ties between the two peoples, he said.

Referring to the longstanding historical and cultural links between the two neighboring countries, Keyhanmehr said tourism could provide an effective platform for strengthening those ties in the contemporary era.

He also thanked the Turkish people and government for their support for Iran during what he described as recent difficult circumstances.

Keyhanmehr said the two sides should seek to turn tourism cooperation from occasional initiatives into a continuous, professional and targeted process, with greater attention to lesser-known destinations.

He expressed hope that the meeting would pave the way for broader practical cooperation in tourism and culture, saying that introducing each country’s attractions to the other ultimately means promoting their history, culture, nature, identity and way of life to one another.

AM

source: tehrantimes.com