Iran's Tourism in 2023, 37% Lower than Pre-COVID Levels

According to data from the World Tourism Organization, the total number of incoming tourists to Iran in 2023 has decreased by 37% compared to 2019, reaching a figure lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic. As reported by ISNA, the highest number of tourist arrivals in Iran was recorded in September (around August and September 2023) with 660,000 visitors. This figure dropped to its lowest point in January (around December 2022 and January 2023) with 181,000 visitors. Various reasons, including a lack of service infrastructure, unconventional social restrictions, Iran's inclusion on the FATF blacklist, and a lack of governmental will to attract foreign tourists, have contributed to the decline of tourism in Iran in recent years. Ebrahim Pourfaraj stated in an interview on December 4 that spring and autumn are two peak travel seasons for Iran, but this year there were no tourists in either season. He added that with this trend, tourism in Iran will not recover anytime soon, and no officials are addressing this situation. He identified the main problem of Iran's tourism industry as the absence of European and Western tourists, even on a 'free' basis, and emphasized that currently, only tourists with pilgrimage purposes from neighboring countries, especially Iraq, are entering Iran. Research from a reference website in the travel and tourism industry in summer 2023 indicated that Iran's share of the vast revenues of the global tourism industry is less than one percent. In recent years, several foreign tourists have also been detained by the security agencies of the Islamic Republic while visiting tourist sites or at the airport terminal upon leaving the country. These detentions, which occur as part of a hostage-taking process, end with financial and political negotiations by Western countries for the release of imprisoned tourists.