He made the remarks on Monday in a meeting with the Acting Head of Iran Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Ministry Ali-Asghar Moonesan, held at the venue of ICCIMA, and added, “instability of management was one of the serious problems in the field of tourism over the past years.”

Today’s revenue of tourism industry is compared with the income obtained as a result of oil and car manufacturing industry, he said, adding, “the tourism industry is not comparable with any of the other sectors of economy in terms of added value.”

He once again put the tourism share in the world’s whole trade at about seven percent.

He pointed to the number of 1.250 billion tourists in the world who create $1,500 billion worth of revenues for countries, he said, adding, “under such circumstances, Iran’s share of tourism is negligible.”

Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the cheapest countries for foreign tourists, so that the country should seize this golden opportunity in this respect.

He called on responsible officials in tourism sector of the country to introduce an accurate image of  the Islamic Republic of Iran in the international community.

He then pointed to the high potential of private sector of the country and added, “private sector can play a leading role in materializing most objectives of tourism industry optimally.”