The First International Tourism Economy and Investment Exhibition (Tourist City) was held for four days from August 26 to 30, 2018, organized by Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization at Iran Mall’s Permanent Center for the International Exhibition and Trade Events.

According to Iran Mall Exhibition Center, after the opening ceremony and on the sidelines of his visit to the tourist city exhibition, Iran’s Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Ali Asghar Mounesan said, “We have managed to present the dignity and status of our cultural heritage, handicrafts and tourism in the best way in the country, and today we see that the government and all the governors-general are taking into consideration the position of tourism in their macro-level planning”.

Pointing to the country's tourism capacities, the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts said, "We can have a dynamic economy along with a tourism industry because a unique opportunity for tourism in the country is created today by allocating 8,700 billion Tomans (approximately $725 million) through the National Development Fund to the tourism industry ".

"Our aim at this event was to provide the necessary conditions for tourism investors. Therefore, all the energy and effort of the organization is aimed at facilitating and accelerating the affairs of the organization and the participation of the private sector," he noted.

"The characteristics and concepts of the tourist city have been communicated to the municipalities of all provinces. These characteristics are related to the infrastructure and the way to deal with the tourists. If a city is able to meet these requirements, it will receive a tourist city certificate,” Mounesan pointed out.

"The participation of provinces in this exhibition with all their tourism potentials and capacities has been our main objective and we hope the tourism city will become a brand,” he added.

According to the report of the organizing staff of Iran Mall Exhibition Center, the exhibition of the tourist city was organized in three floors in a 12,601-square-meter space with 169 booths, which was attended by some 18,500 visitors.

Creation of an interactive background between governmental organizations and private sectors in the tourism industry, identification of problems, barriers, and strengths and weaknesses in this industry, and promotion of the industry's position among public and private sector officials have been regarded as the main goals of this exhibition.

Hotels, tourist accommodation centers, financial institutions and banks, insurance companies, hotel management education centers, specialized publications, start-ups, provincial cultural and tourism organizations, industries related to hotel facilities, and airline agencies were among the organizations putting their capabilities on display at this exhibition.

Some 15 workshops on topics such as introducing the country’s tourism capacities, examining the role of commercial complexes in the tourism industry, tourism-based economy and its culture, green tourism and its institutionalization in the society, ecotourism industry in Iran, tourism's role in entrepreneurship and employment, etc. were held in this exhibition to take an effective step towards promotion of the visitors’ social knowledge in the field of tourism and its position in the country.