Iran Press/ Iran news: Khosro Nazeri made the remarks at the 5th meeting of the ECO member states' Ministers of Tourism held in Ardabil, northwestern Iran that the fifth meeting tries to realize the improvement of tourism ties based on the ECO capacities.
Nazeri expressed hope that the meeting would be effective in introducing the capacities of Ardabil as the tourism capital of ECO member countries as a part of its goals.
He noted: "Ardabil has a key role in the history of the region and in the culture of the member countries, and as an influential city with a rich history, it creates an opportunity for the development of regional interactions."
He referred to the corona pandemic and its regressive impact on tourism in the regional countries: "Before the corona pandemic ECO recorded significant figures in tourism such that 87 million tourists visited the countries of the region annually, but the figure decreased after the corona pandemic; in recent years, the number of tourists is growing again, and we hope that Ardabil's (meeting) statement could help to develop it as much as possible."
There is a high capacity in the fields of culture, pilgrimage, health, and food tourism, he said and added that the role of tourism in the economy of the region can be shored up through intra-organizational interactions.
Ardabil was selected as the third tourism capital of the ECO member countries in 2023; Shusha City of the Republic of Azerbaijan will be the next city to play the role in 2024.
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