For governments seeking to diversify their economies, international tourism can be particularly attractive because foreign visitors bring international currency into the country. Tourism can therefore contribute not only to employment but also to foreign-exchange earnings.
The 470 million tomans mentioned in the report should, however, be understood within the monetary and economic context of the time. The value and purchasing power of the toman in the 1970s cannot be directly compared with modern Iranian currency without accounting for decades of inflation, currency changes, economic restructuring, and other factors.
Nevertheless, the figure demonstrates that Iranian officials considered tourism sufficiently important to measure its contribution in financial terms.
The increase in tourism revenue was also evidence that tourism was being treated as more than a cultural activity. It was part of the country’s broader economic planning.
The Ministry of Information and Tourism
The report was based on statistics released by the Ministry of Information and Tourism. The existence of such a ministry illustrates the institutional importance that tourism had acquired in Iran by this period.
