The 40th Annual Meeting of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) was kicked off on Monday in the western Iranian city of Hamedan.

The summit was attended by a host of high-ranking guests including UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili and Iran’s Vice President and head of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Ali-Asghar Mounesan. 80 members of the UNWTO from 30 countries took part in the opening ceremony of the 40th UNWTO Affiliate Members Plenary Session: International Seminar on Harnessing Cultural Tourism through Innovation and Technology.Pololikashvili was the keynote speaker of the Summit.The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), based in Madrid, Spain, is a United Nations agency in the tourism sector that deals with tourism affairs. Today, it is the world’s leading and most recognized international travel and tourism body.Currently, the World Tourism Organization has 557 affiliate members, including 16 from Iran. Hamedan Municipality, Alisadr Tourism Company and Ganjnameh Tourism Complex (all from Hamadan province) are among the members of the UNWTO.Hamedan with about 1,800 tourist attractions is considered one of the five most attractive cities of the country. Avicenna Tomb, Baba Tahir Tomb, Ecbatana Historic Hill, Alavian Dome, Ganjnameh Inscriptions, and Alisadr Cave are among the most important historical and tourist attractions of Hamedan.As a member of the board of directors of this meeting, Alisadr Traveling Company played a significant role in hosting the UNWTO Summit in Hamadan.Hamedan, as the capital of Iranian history and civilization, has been selected by the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) as the capital of Asia’s tourism in 2018. Earlier,Hamedan hosted the Asia Cooperation Dialogue Conference from August 27 to 29.