UNESCO attends 17th WFTGA Convention in Tehran

The 17th Convention of the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (WFTGA) is taking place in Tehran from 28 January to 1 February, AVA Diplomatic reports.

The opening ceremony on 28 January was attended by H.E. President Rouhani, H.E. Vice-President Ahmadipour, Dr. Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization and other dignitaries.

H.E. President Rouhani stressed the importance of tourism for peace, intercultural dialogue and fostering greater understanding and harmony between peoples. “Tourism serves as a bridge between nations”, said the President.

H.E. Ms Ahmadipour, Vive-President and Head of ICHHTO, mentioned that 2017 was the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development and emphasized the important role of tour guides as cultural ambassadors.

Dr. Rifai stressed Iran’s millennia-old tradition and experience in receiving tourists and said that tourism was a means of showing Iran’s rich culture and history to the rest of the world.

The 17th Convention brought together tourist guides from more than 40 different countries and included sight-seeing tours to different cultural heritage sites and cities in Iran.

On the margins of the Convention, Ms. Esther Kuisch Laroche, Director of the UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office had meetings with the President and other representatives of WFTGA, the Head of the Iran Federation of Tourist Guide Associations and with Dr. Taleb Rifai and other colleagues from UNWTO to discuss ongoing and planned cooperation in the field of sustainable tourism and training of specialized tour guides.