cultural and religious tourism development in iran

Today, tourism industry has a high status in the economies of the country and plays an active and effective role in promoting the economic, social and cultural structure of countries, especially in the developing countries. This is particularly true in the case of Iran, a country that possesses a large number of cultural heritage and religious attractions. Overall tourism policies in Iran can be considered as much more consequential from the standpoint of the country s specific socio-religious context rather than from explicit planning patterns. In Iran, religious tourists tend to concentrate mostly at the Shia shrines of Imam Reza in Mashhad and that of his sister Fatima in Qom.

Keywords:

Cultural tourism , Islamic tourism , Iran