TEHRAN -- Iran is stepping up efforts to expand its tourism infrastructure, offering financial support for hotel projects that are at least 70% complete as the country targets between 10 million and 15 million international visitors annually under peaceful conditions.
Tourism Minister Seyed Reza Salehi-Amiri outlined the strategy during a meeting with banking officials on Oct. 24, highlighting hotel development, travel financing and health tourism as priorities for strengthening the country’s visitor economy.
Despite two wars over the past two years, Iran received more than 12.5 million international visitors during that period, he said. 
Salehi-Amiri said the country’s historical, cultural and natural attractions provide a foundation for substantially increasing arrivals, provided security conditions improve and investment in tourism services continues.
A central element of the government’s approach is accelerating the completion of unfinished tourism projects. The ministry intends to prioritize hotels that have achieved at least 70% physical progress, using support from commercial banks and Iran’s National Development Fund to help bring near-completed properties into operation.
Salehi-Amiri said 1,471 tourism projects had been inaugurated nationwide over the preceding two years. Further investment, he said, should focus on projects capable of delivering additional accommodation capacity quickly, reducing the time between construction spending and commercial operation.
The initiative comes as property developers and construction investors increasingly explore hotel development, according to the minister. Targeted financing is intended to help convert ongoing construction into operating accommodation, particularly in major tourism destinations.
Tehran is another priority. Salehi-Amiri said the capital should have at least 100 five-star hotels to strengthen its capacity to accommodate international visitors, business travelers and participants in international events. The proposed expansion would represent a substantial ambition for the capital’s upscale hospitality sector.
The government is also pursuing a national travel card initiative intended to make domestic travel more accessible and connect travelers with tourism services. 
The proposal was discussed during a recent meeting in Mashhad attended by senior government and financial officials, including the ministers of foreign affairs and roads and urban development and the head of the Central Bank of Iran.
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