Industry News

September 2016 – Iran offers 13 year tax break to hotels to promote tourism, 100% tax free for hoteliers

Iran offered up to 13 years of tax holidays to hoteliers at an international tourism summit yesterday as it seeks to boost visitor numbers and revamp its dilapidated hotels. “In addition, overseas investors in every sector will be offered a three-year residence permit that is extendable. “All economic activities related to… tourism will enjoy 100 per cent tax holidays between five to 13 years depending on the region,” deputy economy minister Mohammad Khazaei told hoteliers from 18 countries who had gathered in Tehran, many from Europe. Since the lifting of international sanctions under last year’s nuclear deal, the moderate government of President Hassan Rouhani has made tourism a top priority for rebuilding Iran’s struggling economy. Visitor numbers have already boomed in recent years thanks to a partial thaw in the country’s relations with the world, rising from 2.2 million annually in 2009 to 5.2 million in 2015. By 2025, they are hoping to reach 20 million visitors a year. Read More…

July 2016 – Tourism on the rebound in Iran

More visitors have been exploring Iran since last year’s landmark nuclear deal and the lifting of sanctions.

When the video Don’t Go To Iran first hit the internet this spring, the title made some Iranians fear it would be yet another effort to taint the country’s image. With exhausted infrastructure frequently cited as an issue for the tourism industry, a recent deal to bolster tourism ties with Turkey gave the green light for several Turkish investors to build hotels in Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz and Mashhad. Hotel groups from France and Spain have also invested in Iran in recent years, while Iran has bolstered tourism ties with China by establishing tourism offices in Shanghai and Guangzhou, in the hope of attracting Chinese tourists and investors. Read More…

June 2016 – Iran allocates $1.4b for creating jobs in tourism, handicraft industry

“We are planning to create 140,000 jobs in these two fields with this budget,” the deputy director of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicraft Organization (CHTHO) Bahman Namvar-Motlaq said on Tuesday. About 200 million rials (about $5,500) is needed for creating a single job in the field of handicraft and the figure is 700 million rials (about $20,000) for job creation in the field of tourism, he said. Previously, CHTHO Director Masoud Soltanifar announced that Iran will create some 140,000 job opportunities in the field of tourism by the end of the next Iranian calendar year (March 2018).
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May 2016 – Iran plans to build 400 hotels to improve tourism industry

Head of Iranian Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization Massoud Soltani-Far said Iran plans to build four hundred hotels to attract more foreign visitors. He said in case the four hundred hotels are built by the next eleven years, Iran can well meet needs of twenty million tourists.

“Most foreign investors are willing to construct multi-star hotels in Iran and came to understand that Iran is a good market for investment,” Soltani-Far said, adding their presence in Iran is intervened with the results of nuclear talks. Read More…

April 2016 – Omani FM, HEGTA CEO Negotiate Tourism

Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah received Iran’s Tourism Holding of Social Security Organization (HEGTA) Managing Director Ebrahim Bai Salami in Muscat on April 20. The two sides underlined the need for change of past approaches and called for expansion of economic ties especially in tourism industry. The Omani foreign minister and HEGTA managing director also negotiated on determining regional and international strategy in order to develop tourism cooperation.
Bin Alawi and Salami also discussed the capacities of their countries in terms of expanding air flights and creating recreational and residential facilities as well as constructing four and five star hotels. Read More…

March 2016 – Memorandum of Understanding between HEGTA and ACCOR Hotels Group is signed

AccorHotels Group as one of the most prestigious hotel groups, and 1st Hotel Operator across the world has entered into a memorandum of understanding with HEGTA in Tehran HOMA Hotel.

This MoU signed after new several rounds of talks, includes long-term cooperation to develop hotels, to renovate existing HOMA hotels to the modern standards, to promote the newly rebranded HOMA hotels across the world as well as a special focus on training and human resources training and development. Read More…

January 2016 – Iran Set to Construct 125 Luxury Hotels in 2016: Report

“Backing up its aim to be one of the must-visit destinations for 2016, Iran is set to construct 125 luxury hotels,” According to a report carried by MailOnline on Tuesday.

It added, “With the government’s tourism arm aiming to increase visitors to the Middle Eastern country to 20 million by 2025, a 20-fold increase, hopes are that it can contribute £20billion to the economy.”

Earlier, Head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) Masoud Soltanifar confirmed that many of the hotels are near completion, and the numbers built in the last year are more than the total produced in the last century. Read More…

December 2015 – Iran says constructing 125 luxury hotels

Iran’s top tourism official says the country is constructing 125 new four- and five-star hotels, stressing that the figure is a record in the Iranian hospitality industry.

Masoud Soltanifar, the head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, has been quoted by the media saying that the government of President Hassan Rouhani has over the past two years constructed as many luxurious hotels as the ones constructed in the country over the past century. Read more…

September 2015 – $25B Investment Package To Revitalize Iran’s Tourism Industry

Iran has hammered out an investment package worth $25 billion to revitalize its tourism which has been under the shadow of its sprawling petroleum industry.

The country is working to diversify its foreign exchange earnings away from petrodollars as the liability of the oil sector is beginning to dawn on the nation following years of sanctions and crude market volatility.

“In the year 2025 vision plan, Iran must annually host 20 million foreign tourists who could generate between $25-30 billion in foreign exchange earnings,” head of the Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) Masoud Soltanifar said.

“For tourism development in Iran, our organization has prepared a package for $25 billion of investment in 1,300 projects,” he said on the sidelines of a signing ceremony to hand over two hotels in Tehran to AccorHotels. Read More…