Tehran – 29 July 2025
The 8th Meeting of the ECO Tour Operators’ Network (ETON) took place virtually on July 29, 2025, bringing together representatives from various tour operator companies and national tourism authorities across the ECO Member States.
Mr. Jasur Rajabov, Director for Tourism underscored the importance of regional collaboration in enhancing tourism initiatives and highlighted significant advancements on ECO tourism coooperation since the previous ETON meeting and the 1st ECO Tour Operators Forum, particularly mentioned about the successful organization of the 6th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Tourism and the inauguration of Erzurum as the ECO Tourism Capital for 2025, the launch of the ECO Tourism Website and the 3rd ECO Confobotion on Health Tourism in Hamedan, Iran.
Participants shared insights and recommendations for the content and programme of the upcoming 2nd ECO Tour Operators Forum to be co-hosted by the Republic of Türkiye and Turkish Cypriot State to ensure the event’s success, focusing on enhancing collaborative efforts. The tour operators emphasized the critical need for improved air connectivity, facilitated border crossing, utilizing digitized tools for further promotion of their services among and beyond the ECO Member States. They proposed the establishment of dedicated routes and increased flight frequencies to facilitate joint tours, thereby enhancing travel experiences. Additionally, they suggested organizing networking sessions and a special session for videoshowcasing for each country during the forum to explore collaborative marketing strategies and share best practices.
The meeting concluded with a call for active engagement from all participants, reinforcing the commitment to evolving the ETON into a practical platform for regional tourism cooperation with updates and enlargement. The insights gathered will guide future initiatives and strengthen economic and cultural ties within the region.
