PRESS RELEASE

Philippines Participates in the Gilan's First International Tourism Exhibition

Representative of Majlis, Mr. Delkhoosh, visiting the Philippine booth with the Head of CHHTO (left); Embassy Staff Ms. Bertilla Oblad attends to spectators at the Philippine booth (right)

The Philippine Embassy in Tehran participated in the first Gilan's International Tourism Exhibition at Rasht Cultural Fair in Rasht, Gilan on 02-06  December 2009 upon the invitation of the Provincial Government of Gilan and Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (CHHTO).   

The five-day event was aimed to promote the province of Gilan as one of the ECO tourism destinations in Iran. It also aimed to raise Iranians, especially "Gilakis" awareness and better understanding on other countries' cultures and tourism, and how they could learn from their experiences.

More than hundreds of local companies in the field of tourism; travel agencies, hotels, tour guides associations, souvenirs and handicrafts exhibitors from different provinces of Iran participated in the event. Other government agencies in different provinces of Iran also participated in the said exhibition.

Thirteen diplomatic missions joined the exhibition: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Sweden, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Venezuela with the United Nations. Each of them was given a pavilion which featured its cultural and tourist attractions, handicrafts and national costumes.

The Philippine representatives in the exhibition gave away brochures on Philippines, explained the visa requirements and distributed visa application forms to those who showed interest to visit the Philippines.  

At the opening ceremony on 02 December, Engineer Gharamoni, the Governor of Guilan, emphasized that Iran, especially his province, is eager and ready for local and international cooperation in the field of tourism and investment.

 Representatives of Majlis in Gilan, Messrs. Kouchakinejad, Delkhosh, Tamini and  Ghasemi also visited the exhibition. Iran's local television network, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), covered the exhibition and featured the Philippine booth in one of its coverages.