Almost all Tehran hotels have undertaken reconstruction works and half of them are redecorating.

Director of Tehran Hotel Owners Union said the quality of services rendered by provincial hotels would largely improve by the yearend (March 2006), IRNA reported.
Stating that all hotels in the province had already joined the union, Mohammad-Ali Farrokh-Mehr went on, “Most of these hotels, particularly those in suburban areas, are not in good shape. However, once brought under the umbrella of the union, these hotels are bound to observe a set of regulations and standards which will help upgrade their services.“
He stated that most hotels were implementing renovation, redecoration and expansion projects, and explained, “Almost all Tehran hotels have undertaken reconstruction attempts, and half of them are redecorating. Also the grand hotels of Ferdosi, Tehran, Iranshahr, Omid, Hadi, Azadi and Esteqlal are conducting expansion projects.“
He expressed satisfaction with the sound competition among hotels in the capital city.
The director referred to lack of skilled manpower as a key obstacle and observed, “A proposal on providing hotel personnel with on-the-job training has been submitted to the National Tourism Center to finalize the budget. The union has estimated a budget of up to eight billion rials for training close to 5,500 hotel workers across Tehran.“ Farrokh-Mehr said the union would start training the employees once the proposed budget is ratified.

The imposing brick gateway, Darvazeh Bagh-e Melli (the National Garden Gateway), decorated with tiles, was built in Tehran in 1922 by command of Reza Khan when he was minister of war.
It faces what it used to be the ministry of war, an old Qajar building a few hundred yards to the north; the space between was for many years a big military parade ground, the Maidan-e-Mashq, but has now been built over.
On the right through the gateway are the large police headquarters, built in neo-Achaemenian style during Reza Shah’s reign; on the left a museum completed in 1967, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Apart from numerous faience inscriptions, the tiling on both sides of the gateway illustrates military subjects such as machine guns and soldiers. The main faience inscription over the central arch, which is crowned by a chamber where military music was played, is an Arabic and records well-known words of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)as quoted by Imam Reza (AS).
Another inscription states that the gateway’s wrought-iron work was made in the Tehran arsenal.

The initiative aims to provide visitors with comprehensive information about historic sites.

High Tourism Council of Isfahan endorsed a proposal obligating the use of local guides in provincial tours, IRNA wrote.
Head of the Supervising Department of Isfahan Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department, Saeed Moslehi, made the remark, noting the initiative aims at providing foreign and domestic visitors with comprehensive information regarding the historic sites.
He said the tour guides coming from Tehran are non-natives and have therefore insufficient knowledge about the historical monuments and can only provide sightseers with limited information presented in tourist guides.
The official mentioned that the endorsement would make it possible to supervise activities of tour guides more closely and prevent any violations.
Moslehi said the majority of tour operators refuse to make use of local guides to reduce costs.
“The major problem is that some non-local guides collude with sellers and receive commissions for selling handicrafts to tourists at higher rates,“ he regretted.
“This has not only tarnished the tourism industry, but has also slackened the local handicrafts business,“ he noted.
Isfahan province has 400 tour guides who speak in different languages including English, French, Italian, Arabic and German.

An agreement on tourism cooperation was signed between Iran and Spain on Saturday, IRNA reported.
The document signed by deputy head of Iran Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO), Ali Hashemi and secretary general of tourism department of Spain’s Ministry of Trade and Tourism, Raymond Martinez Ferril, was in fact the executive program of an MoU inked by Tehran and Madrid in 2002.
Areas of concern highlighted in the document include exchange of facts and figures, promotional activities, rules and regulations for joint ventures, as well as the lists of hotels and travel agencies in both countries. It was also agreed that a Spanish media delegation would be invited to visit Iran’s attractions.
Other areas of interest include swapping tourists, organizing training courses for ICHTO experts, linking educational institutions active in hotel management and tourism, encouraging cooperation between private tourism agencies, and expanding cooperation within the framework of World Tourism Organization principles.
Earlier in a joint conference on the development of Iran-Spain tourism cooperation, Hashemi hailed Spain’s experience in tourism programs, adding Iran could benefit from such experience to move forward.
He said the most important part of the MoU pertained to Spain’s support for Iran’s presence in WTO executive council during 2006-2009.
Martinez Ferril said his country had invested $69 million in promotion of national attractions, highlighting the role of journalists in introducing tourism draws.
He assessed as “positive“ Iran’s 50-percent tax exemption granted to investors in tourism, expressing hope that Spanish companies could use the opportunity to cooperate with Iranian counterparts.
The secretary general underscored tourism’s determining role in economic and social growth, adding the industry accounts for 4.11 percent of Spain’s gross national product, while 11 percent of the working population are involved in tourism.

Remnants of Takht-e Soleiman monument in West Azarbaijan province (Photo by Hossein Karimzadeh)

Injecting petrodollars into tourism can revolutionize the whole industry.

Twenty-year-old negligence of state officials toward the tourism industry has plunged the sector into the present ailing condition, an official with Iran Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization said.
Speaking at the First Conference of Tourism and Oil, ICHTO director for technical standards and supervision stated that the organization would capitalize on national resources to promote tourism, ILNA wrote.
Ali Rahimpour cited statistics released by the Oil Ministry based on which some $70 billion worth of investment is required to export five million barrels of oil per annum.
“By injecting this amount into the tourism sector, we could revolutionize the whole industry,“ the official noted.
Rahimpour gave assurances that should 1 percent of the funds allocated to other industries flow into tourism, it would not only breathe fresh life into the sector, but would also bring about more security and jobs.
Foreign entrepreneurs initially travel to a country as tourists to examine investment security, he said, adding they would embark on investment only after they feel confident that their capital is not at risk.
He said tourism accounts for 10 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), adding based on 2004 figures, the industry has helped generate 338 million jobs.
At present, the country’s main concern is unemployment and corruption, the official stated, adding the world views tourism as a driving force of the economy.
“Today, we are witness to the statesmen’s 20-year negligence of the sector,“ the official reiterated.
“Close to $800 billion worth of Iranian capital has fled to other countries. Winning back even a small portion of that amount can help revamp the industry.“

Dollar signs are swirling before the eyes of Malagasy tourism officials as the release date nears for Hollywood’s latest cartoon feature “Madagascar,“ a film that is hoped will send holidaymakers trooping to this Indian Ocean island, AFP reported.
The family-oriented, computer-generated comedy from animation giant DreamWorks, makers of earlier hits “Shrek“ and “A Shark’s Tale,“ premieres nationwide in the United States on May 27, a date officials here believe will mark the opening of a whole new tourism market at no cost.
“This film is an incredible chance for Madagascar,“ said Henri Roger, president of the Tourism Board of Madagascar, which has relied mainly on expensive advertising campaigns to attract visitors to the island’s rainforests and beaches.
In France, also a source of tourists for Madagascar, the film opens on June 22.
“This cartoon will be watched by tens of thousands of people around the world,“ Roger said. “It will highlight Madagascar and influence their destination choice in the coming years.“
In a statement, Dreamworks’ CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said the company hoped to overcome disappointing first quarter 2005 earnings with “Madagascar,“ which he said the firm was “especially excited about.“
“Reaction to the movie so far has been very encouraging and we think there is something in it for the entire family to enjoy,“ he said.
In Madagascar, which is better known for its exotic lemurs, rare lizards and vibrant music, officials see box office success for the film will translate into much-needed tourism revenues.
The island, which recorded a 35-percent increase in tourists between 2001 to 2004, from 230,000 to 310,000 foreign visitors, is currently on a campaign to boost that number to 500,000 by 2007.

Traveler confidence to visit areas slammed by the Indian Ocean tsunami is on the decline, leaving the recovery of key Asian tourist destinations in a volatile state, a top credit card company said, Reuters reported.
Data from Visa Asia-Pacific showed tourist spending in the Maldives, Sri Lanka and on the Thai resort island of Phuket fell in April and early May, after a period of steady recovery in February and March.
“Visa’s latest data clearly shows that tourism recovery in the tsunami-hit countries remains volatile and fragile, exacerbated by the recent earthquakes and disturbances in southern Thailand,“ said James Murray, executive vice president for South and Southeast Asia.
The massive magnitude-9 quake off Indonesia’s Sumatra island that triggered the Dec. 26 tsunami that left an estimated 228,000 people dead or missing has been followed by hundreds of aftershocks, while the death toll from a Muslim insurgency in the south of Thailand has continued to climb.
During the week ended May 8, international Visa cardholder spending fell 35 percent year-on-year in the Maldives and by 3 percent in Sri Lanka.
In Phuket, tourist card spending fell consistently through April to reach a 37 percent year-on-year decline, said Murray, who was visiting Indonesia for a tourism conference on the resort island of Bali.
He said Bali, which spent months recovering from a 2002 militant bombing and is far from Indonesia’s Sumatra island hit hardest by the tsunami, was a bright spot in the gloom.
During the 18 months to April 2005, Bali experienced its longest period of year-on-year growth in eight years, Murray said. Visa card spending rose 34 percent year-on-year in March.
Southeast Asia earns more from tourism than other regions hit by the tsunami with its tourist collections estimated at $30 billion a year.
The wall of water dealt a particularly heavy blow to resorts along Thailand’s southwest beaches, where thousands of foreign tourists died. Before the tsunami, tourism revenue accounted for 6 percent of Thailand’s economy.
The region’s tourism industry had expected a temporary fall in the number of long-haul tourists and rests many of its hopes for recovery on travel within the region, by people who better understand the extent of the damage and their neighbors’ plight.

Iran Air recently established a club for its frequent travelers, the Sky Gift, which is going to provide its regular fliers with special benefits including free excess baggage, free transport at destination airport, air fare discounts and using CIP lounge at the airport.
Head of the Sky Gate Club, Abbas Jamshidi, predicted that the move would increase the number of international travelers of the Islamic Republic of Iran Airline, Iran Air, by 50 percent. Club members will receive blue, silver and gold cards depending on the mileage traveled by the national carrier.
“Ever since the club was established in September 2004, some 12,000 people have joined in and 300 have received the Blue Card,“ he said.
New club members receive the Blue Card which is considered the first step to earn points. Flying with Iran Air, members will earn more mileage and as a result points and cash discounts, which turns their blue card into silver and then gold ones. The Silver Card necessitates an accumulation of 20,000 points. The Silver Card provides its holder with advantages which include an additional ten-kilogram baggage allowance, priority for flight reservation and baggage check in, and upgrading the flight class, CHN reported.
The Silver Card is upgraded to gold with an extra 25,000 points. The Gold Card holders enjoy further privileges including a guaranteed seat reservation, 50 percent bonus points on every mile of the flight, reward points, cash discounts, and an excess 20-kilogram baggage, and the use of the CIP lounge. They, moreover, can benefit from free transportation to and from the airport everywhere around the world and choose their on-board meal.