Some of the world's most prominent hotel managers�will visit Iran soon to discuss investment in the country�s tourism and construction of luxury hotels, president of World Trade Center Tehran Mohammad Reza Sabzalipour has said.�

�One of these brand names, a large hotel management company, owns more than 150 luxury hotels in five continents and is famous for its services and hospitality,� he said on Saturday, without naming them.

Sabzalipour said extensive negotiations with several big names in the sector had been going on for a year for investment in the construction and renovation of hotels and commercial hotel management.

�After months of consultations and extension of guarantees, we have convinced them to a great extent and paved the way for their presence in the Iranian market.�

The delegates are planned to travel separately and�visit tourist destinations and hold talks with Iranian mayors and related state officials as well as private investors.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="555"] The ruins of Persepolis in southern Iran[/caption]

Sabzalipour said although Iran�s tourism is not under US-led sanctions, some recent headways in nuclear negotiations have led to positive openings and encouraged international hoteliers to view the Iranian market with more optimism.

Iran plans to annually�attract 20 million tourists by 2025 which could generate�$30 billion of revenues, director of Iran�s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Masoud Soltanifar has said.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="555"] Foreign visitors travelling on Iran's Golden Eagle Danube Express tourist train[/caption]

The country is among the world�s top potential tourist destinations with a treasure trove of ancient sites, including 17 places listed by the UNESCO.

Tourism, however, is a neglected industry in Iran which�has relied on oil exports for decades.

Sabzalipour said global tourism has experienced a phenomenal growth in recent years, prompting a flurry of structural plans in many countries.

�Tourism is now viewed as the third biggest industry in the world in terms of revenue generation and turnover after oil and car-making. According to recent World Tourism Organization data, the industry will grow such that by 2020, it will compete with oil as the biggest hard currency earner.�

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="555"] Mosques with their magnificent architecture in Iran[/caption]

He said Iran currently has the capacity to host between 2 million to 3 million foreign tourists a year, adding the country plans to turn the tourism sector into the second source of revenue after oil.

�Iran has a very distinctive and superior position for attracting tourists. Favorite subjects for tourists are abundant in Iran," Sabzalipour said.

"They�include a beautiful nature with its unique climatic and weather features, the country's�cultured people with an ancient civilization and their customs as well as its very old sides with their splendid architecture."

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="555"] Northern Iran on the Asalem-Khalkhal road[/caption]

Sabzalipour said Iran is regarded as one of the five most important countries in tourism.

"According to a group of leading experts in tourism, every tourist entering Iran could bring in revenues equaling the�export�of dozens of barrels of oil."

By Press TV