The Head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, Ali Asghar Mounesan, has praised Iran's high capacity for attracting ecotourists, saying the government is seriously trying to attract more tourists, including ecotourists, into Iran.

Iran news: In an interview with Iran Press on Sunday, the Head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, Ali Asghar Mounesan, referred to government efforts to attract more international tourists to Iran.  

Speaking at a press conference in Tehran on Sunday, Mounesan said: "Well as the secretary general of UNWTO, Zurab Pololikashvili has said and it was also mentioned in our morning meeting, ecotourism and nature-tourism are two important topics, forming a central part of tourism, and many countries are trying to attract ecotourists and nature tourists."

Mounesan added: "As Zurab Pololikashvili has said, the World Tourism Organization (WTO) intends to designate a year as a United Nations Ecotourism year, thus it shows and expresses how ecotourism is a very important matter. We are glad to announce that our country "Iran" has unique attractions in terms of historic sites and monuments, unparalleled natural beauty and possesses a unique wildlife (flora and fauna) and also customs and traditions of various Iranian ethnic groups."

Turning to steps taken by the Iranian government to attract tourists into the country, the head of Tourism Organization of Iran said: "Fortunately, we have taken serious steps and actions in this regard, for example we have set up 600 indigenous tourism offices in the country and intend to increase this figure to around 2000 tourism centers. It is essential for improvement of rural economy and will also help to create jobs, benefiting the economy. Nature tourism is very important and we have only just started in this field. We appreciate the assistance of World Tourism Organization "WTO", who provide us with assistance and advice in order to achieve this goal in compliance with international standards." 

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