The annual election of a city as the ECO Tourism Capital is a comprehensive plan for the development of the tourism markets of the ECO region countries that have had common cultural backgrounds and rich trade experiences in the Silk Road economic market.
The event, which started with the motto: social vitality, identity-building, and economic dynamism, based on the Khujand declaration on October 4, 2019, paves the way to represent a proper image of Ramsar and increase international relations in various sectors with the ECO member states.
The opening ceremony of the Sari 2022 event was held in Sari, the capital city of Mazandaran province, May 9-11, 2022. The Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization together with the ambassadors and diplomats from the ECO member countries participated in the opening ceremony.
The event was graced by the presence of the Iranian Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts together with the presence of the deputy minister in tourism affairs and the head of international affairs of the ministry, as well as the presence of the Director General of the National Museum of Iran and a significant number of the experts from the ministry, showed the importance of the opening ceremony of the Sari 2022 event.
On the other hand, the presence of the general governor of Mazandaran, all the deputy governors, other provincial officials, and the governor and mayor of Sari, as well as the close cooperation by Mazandaran radio and television during the opening days, all provided favorable conditions in the city of Sari for the implementation of programs and visits by international and Iranian guests.
The wide presence of domestic and foreign media and news networks and live broadcast from the event by Mazandaran, IRIB Shoma, and IRIB News channels show that one of the major steps in the improvement of tourism in Mazandaran province in recent years have been fortunately taken at the opening ceremony of this event.
Welcoming Ceremony
The welcoming ceremony included the arrival of the Varash Airlines flight, the general governor of Mazandaran and local officials welcoming foreign and Iranian guests, and the transfer from the airport to the Badeleh hotel by private cars and VIP buses.
The Opening Ceremony
The presence of foreign guests at the level of the ECO Secretary-General, the ambassadors of the member countries, diplomats of these countries, the Iranian Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, his deputies and officials of the ministry, Director General of Multilateral and International Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Supreme Leader's representative in Mazandaran, the PMs, governors, general managers, mayors, and private sectors representatives, as well as reporters from domestic and foreign media, showed the high importance of the opening ceremony of this event, which was accompanied by good and effective speeches delivered. New policies for the implementation and continuation of the goal of this event in line with the cooperation of the member countries in the tourism and commercial sectors were adopted at the closing ceremony.