10% share of tourism from the world GDP/ cities as a center of tourism development

IUESA: Noting that comprehensive model of resistance economy should be considered in all economic aspects, Dr. Pourzarandi said however, much attempt has been done in this regard, but there is a long a way to reach ideal regarded by the Supreme Leader.

Saying that resistance economy is a domestic model taken from economic, social, cultural, and political necessities of the country, he said theoretically, it is a detailed model covering all sectors.

Stating that cities have extensive capacity to accomplish resistance model, yet it has been less considered by officials, he added only one of these capacities is development of urban tourism that can improve state revenue level and facilitate the process of entering foreign investment.

Expressing that comprehensive and targeted support of exporting goods has been highlighted in article 10 of resistance economy; he added it should be considered that there is a direct relationship between tourism industry and exports of handicrafts.

Saying that the number of global tourists has reached more than 1.2 billion people, he said as estimated, this trend is ascending in 2017.

Referring to the impact of tourism growth on economy of countries, he said tourism industry could create 2 million and 357 thousand jobs i.e. more than 3 percent of total employment in this area, in south west of Asia in 2016.

Tourism has created 108 million jobs on average in 2015 and it could allocate 9.8 percent of the world GDP to itself; a figure equals to 7.2 trillion USD, Pourzarandi said.

Saying that despite many capacities, Iran could not achieve the objective of annual 20 million tourists, he further said nearly 5 million foreign tourists visit Iran annually i.e. 2.3 percent of Iran GDP.

Touching upon strategies to strengthen tourism industry, particularly in urban area, he added cities are both origin and destination of tourism, so planning should be based on tourism development.

Highlighting that most tourism attractions are in cities, he further said one of the main problems of tourism industry in Iran is lack of standard hotels that requires the presence of banking system to finance it purposefully.

Asking to formulate a supportive package for entrepreneurs in tourism area, Pourzarandi said those who invest in this regard should ensure that their investment is profitable.

Referring to the development of intra-bank communication and the use of international credit cards in the country, he added fortunately, some important steps have been taken in this regard, which we hope to reach the conclusion as soon as possible.

Emphasizing that tourism can be influential and pioneer in the framework of resistance economy he added that from one hand, this industry is productive and effective on increasing employment and exchange revenues, and on the other hand it can be changed into a tool to transfer cultural messages.