Turkish investors to build 10+ hotels in Iran

Turkey and Iran look to increase bilateral trade after international sanctions on Iran were lifted in January.

Turkish investors will be permitted to build at least 10 hotels in Iran, located in Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz and Mashhad, said a Turkish tourism ministry official, local Iranian news has reported.

The terms of an agreement with Iran was signed during a Turkish delegation’s visit to Tehran that started on Thursday last week.

The agreement includes incentives for investment and allows more charter flights between the neighbouring countries, he said.

“We will transfer our know-how on training, planning, marketing and advertising to raise tourism standards in Iran,” the official told Reuters, declining to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Tourism industry officials expect more than 2 million Iranians to visit Turkey in 2016, up from 1.7 million last year.

InvestIran.com indicates that in the first four months of 2016, there has been a 7% increase in arrivals on last year.

Iran has an ambitious target to increase annual visitor count by five folds to 20 million by 2025 in order to generate US $30 billion (AED 110 billion) a year.

Hotel groups from Germany, Greece, South Korea and Singapore have recently travelled to Iran for talks, according to Iranian officials.