Mohammad Ali Ashraf Vaqefi, a member of the “Iran Tour Operators Association,” stated that the arrival of tourists to Iran has been “almost halted” and attributed this to the lack of a “sense of security” for foreign tourists.
Ashraf Vaqefi, the former vice president of the Iran Tour Operators Association, told the state-run Khabar Online website that “currently, only tourists from Arab countries, especially Iraq, are traveling to Iran.”
This member of the “Tour Operators” community emphasized that “at present, almost no European or American tourist groups are traveling to Iran, and the tourist market is restricted to Russians and Chinese.” He added that even these numbers have “significantly declined compared to the past.”
Ashraf Vaqefi pointed out that “one of our main challenges is the sense of security among foreign tourists” and noted that although Iran is “objectively” safe, “foreign tourists do not feel secure.”
Without addressing the government’s policies of imposing cultural and social restrictions and ideological lifestyle on society, he attributed “regional incidents and events” to causing “negative propaganda” against Iran, which has “directly and indirectly” affected the country.
He reported that travel agencies “are not interested in operating in Iran,” and the spring tourist season in Iran has already been “lost.”
In March, Moslem Shojaei, the then acting director of the Foreign Tourism Marketing and Development Office of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, reported a sharp decline in incoming tours to Iran and admitted that the ministry’s plans to attract Chinese tourists had also failed.
The then chairman of the board of the Professional Association of Iranian Tourist Guides also reported on February 4 that 30% of tour guides had left the industry or emigrated from the country.
According to data from the World Tourism Organization, the total number of incoming tourists to Iran in 2023 decreased by more than 37% compared to 2019.
Multiple factors, including the lack of service infrastructure, unconventional social restrictions, Iran’s inclusion on the FATF blacklist, and the lack of governmental determination to attract foreign tourists, have contributed to the decline of Iran’s tourism sector in recent years.
