Iran is going to take part in the 25th International Tourism Trade Fair, FITUR, slated for January 26-30 in Madrid, Spain, ISNA wrote.
Secretary of the taskforce for the Iranian exhibition, Abbas Norouzi, announced that a 400-square-meter area in Hall No. 4 of Madrid's fair has been reserved for the Islamic Republic's pavilion. The hall is one of the best and most equipped sections of the fair and is going to be designed according to traditional Iranian and Islamic styles.
Private sector will organize the exhibition under the supervision of the Iran Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization. Numerous travel agencies, hotel owners, airlines, handicraft artists, traditional musicians and other tourism-related organizations will be present at the event.
Some 170 countries attended last year's FITUR exhibition. The King and Queen of Spain paid a 45-minute visit to Iran's pavilion last year, which also featured a clay model of the Arg-e Bam citadel destroyed after a magnitude-6.7 quake hit the city last December. Consequently, 100 children orphaned in the earthquake visited Spain following an invitation extended by the country's Queen.
Iranians are planning a variety of entertaining programs including live music performance for the upcoming FITUR.
The fact that the World Tourism Organization's headquarters is also located in Madrid gives added weight to the event.

Private sector can function as the operational arm of the hotel keeping industry, secretary of the Society of Hotel Owners said, ISNA wrote.
Khosro Iranpour commented that Iran is going through a transition from state-dominated to private economy. "Many countries experienced the transition during 1955-65," he said. "Having gone through the scourge of imposed war and the problems associated with it, Iran is now moving toward development."
Iranpour believes the pace at which Iran is as making a transition to private hotel keeping is faster than other countries. "We are located in a region of the world that is witness to major tourism developments and therefore need to match up with the process."
He pointed to the age-old civilization of Iran and said, "Boasting an 8,000-year-old history, it can function as a major player in world tourism. This can be achieved only through collaboration of private and state-owned sectors."
Referring to the interaction between private and governmental enterprises in other countries, he said, "In most parts of the world, the government acts as the policymaker, while the private sector is in charge of executing the projects. Still, the final aim of both sectors is to win customer satisfaction and direct all their programs to that end."
He insisted that customer satisfaction is the most important goal in tourism and should not be overshadowed by competition between privately managed and state-sponsored businesses. "It is wrong to assume that private hotels should charge more for rendering the same services as state-owned ones," he mentioned. "Hotels worldwide are considered as the cornerstone of tourism. Tourists would spend part of their money on accommodation and the rest in regional economy. Tourism revenues would benefit even the low-income groups for the industry helps creates a large number of direct and indirect jobs."
He insisted that hotels are not luxurious entities; rather, they are essential for promotion of tourism.
"The occupancy rate in domestic accommodation facilities is as low as 30 percent in most parts of the year. So they try to compensate losses during high seasons. This is while many hotels in the province are now willing to cut rates by as much as 50 percent," he noted.
Iranpour stated that families should be encouraged to go on trips throughout the year rather than only in specific seasons and holidays.

Coral islands of Kish and Qeshm are the best place for aqua diving.

Iran's vast water expanses provide brilliant potentials for investment, yet the tolerance of marine environments for tourism projects needs to be precisely evaluated.
Lecturer of Allameh Tabatabaei University, Mahmoud Ziaei, made the remark in a talk with ISNA, adding the potential water-based tourism attractions include windsurfing, swimming, aqua diving, lime caves, cruises, fishing and hunting, and river sailing.
He cited the cold and hot mineral springs as other tourist draws and said, "Mineral water can be used for both drinking and bathing. Despite the high potentials of mineral springs in Sarein, Mahallat, Ramsar and Larijan for hydrotherapy, they are presently being used only as bathing places."
Ziaei criticized poor management of the sites and stressed that the services of medical and physiotherapy specialists are needed in these places.
The lecturer referred to water expanses in north and south of Iran with different climatic conditions, which provide tourists with water adventures in different seasons.
"Coral islands of Kish and Qeshm are the best place for aqua diving, but have mostly remained unknown to date," he said. "Dams also provide good locations for water sports but they ought to yet attract investment."
Stressing the importance of rivers as sources of fresh water, he said they could also be used for recreation and sightseeing.

The mosque is famous on account of its splendid portal and facade. It also possesses a huge dome and a superb platform or ivan. Originally, the mosque was called Masjid Jame'.
The portal inscription of the mosque is very valuable and according to its text, the construction of the Masjid has been completed through the zealous efforts of Bibi Fatemeh Khatun, the wife of Amir Chakhmaq, governor of Yazd.
The marble Mihrab (prayer niche) of the mosque is bordered with mosaic tile decorations and verses from the Holy Qur'an are carved on it.
On no account should the visitors to the historic city miss the 14th-century mosque.

Chabahar has one of the most beautiful beaches.

Chabahar Free Trade Zone has largely remained unknown to domestic and foreign tourists despite possessing matchless ecotourism potentials.
Supervisor of Chabahar Free Zone's tourism plans, Saeed Nik-Khah, told ILNA, "Some 500,000 tourists traveled to Chabahar during March 20-August 20, with the city's hotels hosting a monthly 3,500-4,000 guests. The occupancy rate of hotels is expected to grow to 80 percent during the second half of the current year (ending March 2005) thanks to favorable weather conditions."
He said Chabahar boasts 110 historic monuments, which can provide strong tourism draws. "Unfortunately, the officials have failed to properly publicize and promote the area's unique potentials in recent years," he stated.
Asked about Chabahar's share of national tourism during the fourth development plan (2005-2010), Nik-Khah said, "We would make plans to attract sightseers proportionate to our capabilities. A team of foreign advisors are helping us with the studies to determine the area's share of domestic tourism."
He insisted that Chabahar has one of the world's most beautiful beaches, which has remained largely intact. "Therefore, plans are at hand to create recreational and sport facilities such as cycling, kiting and aqua diving on the coast," he mentioned.
"Chabahar has always been suffering from lack of proper publicity and information dissemination to wipe out incorrect images that have formed in the public minds about the region."
He insisted that "based on police reports, Chabahar is one of the most secure areas in Sistan-Baluchestan province and no criminal or smuggling gangs are active here contrary to what is commonly assumed."

Shevi Waterfall in the heart of Sardasht mountains in Dezful, Khuzestan province. The beautiful cascade, 100 meters in height, irrigates a vast area of natural resources while passing through valleys and rocks. (Photo by Amir Nakhaei)

Chogha Zanbil historic monument in southwest Iran

Some 20,000 school students in the southern province of Khuzestan will be covered by the Youth Tourism Scheme, head of the provincial Pupils Organization, Abdolemam Havizavi, was quoted by IRNA as saying.
"The scheme is intended to familiarize Khuzestani students with the natural, cultural, climatic characteristics as well as rites and rituals of different towns in their province," he stated.
"The scheme was launched as of November 21, with the aim to strengthen national identity in the students by taking them to excursions in the nature."
The official said students were going to be taken on one-day camps, adding 600 million rials had been earmarked for this purpose.

India hosts less than three million foreign tourists each year.

Tapping domestic tourism could greatly boost India's travel sector, tour operators and industry experts suggested at a meet, newkerala.com reported.
They were speaking at the 5th International Conference cum Showcase on India: "Tourism & Heritage-Challenge 21" organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Jaipur.
The CEOs of around 50 public and private enterprises were of the view that emphasis should be laid on domestic tourism, which is a large untapped market.
They said people associated with the industry should be given proper training. They also called for single-point collection of all taxes.
The delegates suggested setting up professionally managed tourism boards.
The CEOs stressed the need for paying attention to tourism-related infrastructure, whether it is human resource, viable project formulation or physical connectivity.
Amitabh Kant of the Ministry of Tourism encapsulated the areas needing the greatest attention under five Cs: civic governance, communication, connectivity, capacity building and coordination of service providers.
He remarked that there was no dearth of government funds but a paucity of good, well-structured projects.
S.S.H. Rehman, chairman of the CII National Committee on Tourism and Heritage and director of ITC Ltd, said, "We have a situation of more tourism dollars flowing out than coming in. We must not allow this scenario of a negative tourism balance to remain."
India gets barely three million foreign tourists--among them many expatriates to come to the country on tourist visas--compared to a small country like Singapore, which attracts around seven million itinerants despite being about half the size of New Delhi.

China has added Brazil, Argentina and Chile to its list of approved destinations for group tours.
Travel agencies will be able to organize tours to those countries, after China's tourism authority has finalized visa procedures and guide issues with them, Xinhua news agency said.
Chinese travelers are expected to be drawn to Brazil's rainforests, Chile's volcanoes and Easter Island, and Argentina's Moreno Glacier, it said.
Chinese tourists can only travel to destinations approved by the government, which now cover more than 60 countries. Cuba was approved as a Chinese travelers' destination last year and since September 1st they have been able to go to 27 European countries.
The World Tourism Organization has predicted that China will become the world's fourth biggest source of tourists by 2020, the report said.
The organization said more than 20 million Chinese travelers went abroad last year, surpassing the number of Japanese travelers for the first time to become the highest in Asia.