Iran is the most attractive tourist destination in the world in terms of price competitiveness, one of the 14 indicators in the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index. Price competitiveness measures purchasing power parity, the cost of access to transportation and hotel services, and fuel price levels.
The index also quantifies each country's enabling environment, travel and tourism policy, infrastructure, and natural and cultural resources to measure its attractiveness as a tourist destination. Iran ranks 97th out of 141 countries across all categories.
Iran has pushed to increase tourism over the past few years. Director of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Masoud Soltanifar said the nation’s annual income from tourism is around $6.5 billion. But Iran plans to attract “20 million tourists by 2025, which will earn the country $30 billion [annually],” he said.
The following is excerpted data from the World Economic Forum Report.
Rank (out of 141) | Score (1-7) | |
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index | 97 | 3.32 |
Enabling Environment | 98 | 4.16 |
Business Environment | 119 | 3.85 |
Safety and Security | 96 | 4.89 |
Health and Hygiene | 93 | 4.71 |
Human Resources and Labor Market | 114 | 3.95 |
ICT Readiness | 98 | 3.36 |
T&T Policy and Enabling Conditions | 96 | 3.89 |
Prioritization of Travel & Tourism | 130 | 3.35 |
International Openness | 116 | 2.14 |
Price Competitiveness | 1 | 6.62 |
Environmental Sustainability | 115 | 3.47 |
Infrastructure | 105 | 2.7 |
Air Transport Infrastructure | 93 | 2.22 |
Ground and Port Infrastructure | 76 | 3.28 |
Tourist Service Infrastructure | 119 | 2.61 |
Natural and Cultural Resources | 57 | 2.53 |
Natural Resources | 98 | 2.48 |
Cultural Resources and Business Travel | 37 | 2.59 |