The inauguration ceremony was opened with a speech by President Hassan Rouhani and was attended by a number of high-ranking Iranian and foreign officials. Three main projects inaugurated on Wednesday include Iranian House, Yaam Caravanserai and Museum of Sounds.

 

The center of Iran’s Azerbaijan province was elected for the event during the10th Session of the Islamic Conference of Tourism Ministers (ICTM) of OIC held on February 5-7 in Dhaka, Indonesia.

 

Famous for hand-woven rugs, jewelry and beautiful handicrafts, Tabriz is the largest economic hub and metropolitan area in Northwest Iran.

 

 

 

 

Tabriz is a pioneer city in many fields and was titled as “City of Firsts”, as it was home to first publishing house, first municipality, first public library, first tramway first hotel, first public cinema, first modern elementary school, first school for deaf children and first nongovernmental charity organization.

 

The city, ancient and historical, has been part of Great Silk Road and has played an important role in connecting West and East. Today, the city is still a gate to Europe for eastern markets. The location, therefore, has turned the city to a trade and economic hub. Tabriz Grand Bazar, the biggest covered traditional bazar in the Middle East and registered by UNESCO, indicates the historical and economic prominence of the city.

 

Tabriz could also be considered as Iran’s city of museums with 17 different museums and 27 historical houses. On the other hand, modern architecture and urban planning has made the city as one of the most modern and beautiful cities of Iran.

 

East Azarbaijan is also among the top five destinations in Iran and has hosted some 300,000 foreign tourists in the first half of the current Iranian year (started March 21, 2017), marking a 6% increase compared with the same period of last year.

 

Konya of Turkey and Medina in Saudi Arabia were tourism capitals of Islamic world in 2016 and 2017, respectively.