What were the best, the most successful, the most popular, and the other superlatives of the cultural and creative industries in 1402 (2023/24)? Before answering these questions, we must first examine the importance of the cultural and creative industries. The creative industries have a high capacity to create economic diversification, increase productivity, attract investment, join global value chains, and ultimately generate export income.
Global exports of creative goods rose from 419 billion dollars in 2010 to 524 billion dollars in 2020, and global exports of creative services rose from 487 billion dollars to about 1.1 trillion dollars in the same period. In 2020, design goods accounted for 62.9 percent, new media products 13.4 percent, artistic handicrafts 8 percent, visual arts 6.2 percent, publishing 5.4 percent, audiovisual 3.1 percent, and performing arts 1 percent of total cultural creative goods exports. Among design products, other items can also be named, of which interior design products (20.1 percent), fashion (15.9 percent), jewelry (15.3 percent), and toys (11.4 percent) were the most important export products of this field.
Policymakers in our country too have for several years grasped the importance of this subject, and as the support-based approach has faded, the importance of the economic approach has grown stronger for them. To that end, the country's Public Culture Council has established a headquarters called "Cultural Industries Merchandising," which last year undertook introducing top culture-based businesses, creating a network of economic stakeholders in culture and art, making it possible to register designs of cultural characters, providing a cooperative of culture-based businesses, legal support for culture-based businesses, and providing a culture-based financing package.
The shift of the country's cultural governance from loading the burden of cultural products and services onto the budget toward supporting the private sector is a welcome development. With this view, for example, home video network (VOD) series have taken a load off IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting).
The criterion for selecting the top cultural and creative industries of Iran and the world
Determining the top names in the creative cultural industries is relatively difficult. In fact, the nature of the cultural and creative industries has made finding a criterion for this purpose that enjoys everyone's consensus not an easy task. For example, the highest-grossing film of the year is not necessarily among the best films of those years. In 2023, the film "Barbie" was the world's highest-grossing film of 2023, but "Oppenheimer" won numerous awards and can be said to have been recognized by festivals as the best film of 2023. In the present text, our criterion for determining the top names in the various fields of the cultural and creative industries is quantitative and based on domestic and global statistics. Despite these points, if the criterion for selecting the best is quantitative and the amount of sales or reliance on figures, the work becomes harder in Iran. That is because the absence of accurate and correct statistics plus a lack of transparency means that in introducing the top names we must proceed cautiously and cannot have a proper description of the superlatives of Iran's cultural industries.The best of Iranian and world cinema
The COVID-19 pandemic emptied cinema auditoriums. But in 1402 (2023/24) people made peace with the cinema again. Iran's cinema box office revenue in 1402 (2023/24) reached one thousand and 240 billion tomans (equivalent to 23 million dollars, based on an average of 54 thousand tomans per dollar in 1402 (2023/24)).Iranian cinema's record-breaking
In 1395 (2016/17), cinema admissions in Iran, with a striking jump, approached the 26 million mark (double the previous year). In 1402 (2023/24) the number of Iranian cinema admissions surpassed the past 23 years, and 28 million and 157 thousand people went to the cinema. The comedy film Fossil, in its theatrical release, with about 151 thousand screenings, had 7 million and 500 thousand admissions and also sold 326 billion tomans, which amounts to about one-quarter of Iran's total cinema box office revenue in 1402 (2023/24). Also, the comedy feature Hotel was able in less than 6 months to sell 277 billion tomans and become the second most-watched and highest-grossing Iranian film of 1402 (2023/24), drawing 6 million and 247 thousand people to the cinema.Iran's highest-grossing cinema cities
Tehran, Razavi Khorasan, and Isfahan are, respectively, the three highest-grossing provinces of Iranian cinema, and the Kourosh multiplex, Iran Mall, and Honar Shahr-e Aftab were also, respectively, the three highest-grossing cinemas in Iran in 1402 (2023/24). Of Iran's total cinema box office revenue, more than 550 billion and 483 million tomans related to Tehran's cinemas, more than 149 billion and 164 million tomans related to Razavi Khorasan's cinema auditoriums, and more than 107 billion and 42 million tomans related to cinema in Isfahan province.
The return of prosperity to world cinema
American cinema had a good year in 2023 because cinema box office revenue in the United States passed the 9 billion dollar mark. Universal, by releasing hit films such as "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," "Oppenheimer," and "Fast X," had a profitable year. This film producer, with 1.93 billion dollars in sales in the United States, became America's highest-grossing film studio again after seven years. After Universal, the Disney group, with 1.89 billion dollars in sales, took second place among highest-grossing films at United States box offices. The feature film Barbie was the record holder for the world's highest-grossing film in 2023. This film, which went into release on 21 July 2023, had 1.44 billion dollars in sales. The Super Mario Bros. animation also, with 1.36 billion dollars in sales, took second place. "Oppenheimer," too, with 951 million dollars in sales, reached third place among the world's highest-grossing films.Oppenheimer at the summit of cinema awards
The hit film "Oppenheimer" directed by Christopher Nolan was able to receive seven Oscars, which related to the categories of Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score of the most awarded film of 2023 in the view of this festival. This film was also, by receiving awards in five different categories, the Best Motion Picture of the 2023 Golden Globe Awards. For that reason it can be named as one of the superlatives of the world's cultural industries in 1402 (2023/24).We examine the best films and series of television and streaming services in what follows.
The most successful series of 2023
The series Succession was able to take four Golden Globe awards and thus become the most awarded American series in the view of that country's critics.The world's most-watched television program
In 2023, of the 100 most-watched television programs in the United States, 56 programs were sports. Of these 56 programs, 45 programs were devoted to American football (NFL), 6 programs to the NBA Finals, and the rest to other sports. "Super Bowl 57," with 115 million viewers, became the most-watched live television program in 2023. The Super Bowl is the professional American football league, which has a very large following. The live broadcast of the Oscars ceremony, with 19.2 million viewers, was also the most-watched television program in the entertainment category.
The most popular film and series streaming service
The popularity of online playback services is growing day by day. In 2023 more than three thousand new streaming services were launched. On that basis, the total number of active streamers worldwide reaches 124 thousand. The United States had the largest number of new streaming services, followed by Argentina and Venezuela.
In this year, 150 thousand new titles and works were shown on the world's live film and series playback apps, of which Netflix accounted for the largest volume of production and distribution of works. Netflix's only serious rival in this field was Disney+. Also, Netflix was able at the Golden Globe ceremony, by receiving five awards, to pull ahead of other VODs and receive the most awards.
The world's most attractive VOD platforms
Prime Video was introduced as the most attractive and best subscription VOD of 2023. By the attractiveness of VOD platforms is meant how much individuals' willingness to find and use this VOD has increased. Attractiveness is examined by the amount of increase in market share. Prime Video in 2023 had a 20 percent increase in market share in every month. In the United States the largest market share of subscription VOD, at 22 percent, belonged to Prime Video. Netflix came in second with only one percent less.The best of music in Iran and the world
The absence of official statistics, lack of transparency, failure to adhere to authors' rights (copyright), and numerous other factors have made it impossible to speak easily of the best of Iranian music, and one must make do with speculation and estimated figures. For example, even though concert tickets are purchased through internet sites and providing precise statistics is possible, this is rarely done. For instance, according to official statistics we know that the number of concerts in Iran in 1402 (2023/24) nationwide was four thousand and 970 performances. Now one must estimate how many participants these concerts had and, in total, what concert sales in Iran in 1402 (2023/24) were. For example, taking an average of 700 audience members for each concert inside Iran, it can be estimated that in 1402 (2023/24) fewer than four million concert tickets were sold.The largest number of concerts in Iran, with Majid Razavi at the top
Based on performance statistics in 1402 (2023/24), it can be said with confidence that Majid Razavi, with 267 performances inside the country, holds the record for the most concerts in Iran. Even so, because the number of audience members and the sales of his concerts are not known, one cannot with certainty call him the highest-selling or most popular Iranian singer of 1402 (2023/24).The most popular album and single of 1402 (2023/24)
The absence of precise statistics means that to find the popular music album of the year we too must resort to guesswork. Based on visit information available on the Teh-Music (teh-music) site, Fereydoun Asraei's "Salam-e Akhar," Garsha Rezaei's "Abi," and Masih's "Sang, Kaghaz, Gheychi" were, respectively, the most popular music albums in 1402 (2023/24). Therefore they can be named the superlatives of Iran's cultural industries in 1402 (2023/24). The Hitseda (hitseda) site, too, based on scores that audiences have given to singles on various Persian music download sites, has introduced Shadmehr Aghili's "Tamasha," Alireza Talischi's "Paghadam," and Sasy Mankan's "Baradaran-e Leila" as the most popular pop singles and the single "Duffy Surprise" by Takdon as the most popular hip-hop track.The popularity of K-pop albums in 2023
Every day more fans are added to K-pop music. The highest-selling music album of 2023 belonged to the Korean group Seventeen, which was able to sell 6.4 million copies digitally and physically. This is while Taylor Swift's song album, from among the Grammy winners, has sold 2.7 million copies.Spotify's most popular singer, Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift stands at the top of Spotify's list of the top 10 artists. This pop artist's songs were streamed a total of 26.1 billion times in 2023. The music playback app "Apple Music" also declared this singer the top singer of 2023. If we want to obtain Taylor Swift's income from streaming her songs, Swift in 2023 was able to have about 130 million dollars in income from Spotify.
Spotify's best songs of 2023
The song Flowers by Miley Cyrus was also streamed 1.6 billion times and took the title of Spotify's best song. Also, the tracks of the album Un Verano Sin Ti by Bad Bunny have been streamed 4.5 billion times, so that this album is among Spotify's most-played songs in 2023.9.2 billion dollars in music tour revenue
2023 was a very prosperous year for music tours. In this year the revenue of the 100 highest-earning music tours, with 46 percent growth, reached 9.17 billion dollars. Taylor Swift's "Eras Tour" and Beyonce's "Renaissance" were among the reasons for this growth. Swift's latest music tour broke a new record and became the first music tour able to have more than one billion dollars in revenue. This music tour, by selling 4.53 million tickets across 60 different performances, was able to reach 1.04 billion dollars in revenue.The world's best podcasts on Spotify
Among Spotify's most popular playlists in 2023 of the podcast kind, the podcast The Joe Rogan Experience stands in first place, which for the fourth consecutive year has been able to take this position. The podcast Call Her Daddy is in second place and the podcast Huberman Lab is in third place in downloads of Spotify's best podcasts in the world.The most popular live music streaming service
The Spotify app remains the most used and largest online music playback service, which took 33 percent of the streaming market in 2023. After that comes Apple's music application, Apple Music, and Amazon's music streaming service has settled for third place.The top performing arts
The performing arts in the past three or four years were severely affected by the pandemic and the COVID-19 outbreak, but in the past one or two years they have been able to come out of their coma. Compared with the statistics of performances in 1401 (2022/23), growth in the number of play titles and at the same time an approximate increase of 700 thousand audience members can be observed in 1402 (2023/24). This is while Iran's performing arts still remain distant from their peak period, namely 1397 (2018/19), when more than eight million audience members went to watch more than seven thousand performances. Statistics of Iranian theatrical performance in 1402 (2023/24) show that nationwide 5421 play titles went on stage. The total number of performance runs of these plays reached 52753, and in total 3103824 people saw these plays.Iran's most-performed plays
The most-performed theatrical play of 1402 (2023/24) belongs to the play "Hidden." This play went on stage in total with 230 performances at Qashqai Hall of City Theater and also at Hamoon Theater Hall.The highest-grossing theaters of Tehran and Iran
The play "Back to Black," with sales of more than eight billion tomans, took the title of Iran's highest-grossing play in 1402 (2023/24). This play in Tehran and Mashhad, with two screenings a day, was able to reach sales of eight billion and 654 million tomans. The play "Tehran Paris Tehran" also, with sales of more than seven billion tomans, became Tehran's highest-grossing theater in 1402 (2023/24). This play went on stage from Aban (October–November) to Esfand (February–March) of the current year at Malek Theater and, in a single time span and without a remount, achieved sales of 7 036 831 500.Iran's most awarded theater play
Given respected domestic festivals including Fajr Theater and also the second Hafez Theater and Music Festival, the play "Hidden" can be named the most awarded play of 1402 (2023/24). Among the successes of this successful play, one can point to receiving two trophies at the Fajr Theater Festival in the directing and actress categories, and at the second Ali Moallem Theater and Music Festival (Hafez Festival) it also succeeded in receiving two trophies.
Other superlatives of the performing arts
The play "Human/Horse, Fifty/Fifty," which went on stage at Molavi Main Hall and Shahrzad Theater Complex, with 37 actors took the title of the play with the most actors and indeed one of the most successful workshop plays of 1402 (2023/24). The title of Iran's longest theater in 1402 (2023/24), with a duration of two hours, belongs to the play "Frederick," which went on stage at City Theater Main Hall, and the play "There Is No News of Him," which went on stage in winter 1402 (2023/24) at the Bagh-e Ketab Theater and Music Complex, also holds the title of Iran's longest theater. The shortest play of 1402 (2023/24) was the short puppet play "Mama," which went on stage at Sayeh Hall of the City Theater complex. The duration of this play was somewhere between 35 and 40 minutes. According to surveys, too, the play "A Comprehensive Guide to Becoming a Monster" took the title of the scariest theatrical play of 1402 (2023/24).Broadway's top names in the world
Broadway is among the most respected, or in a sense the most money-making, performing arts stages in the world. The highest play sales in 2023 were for the play "The Lion King," with more than 120 million dollars. This Lion King musical was able to sell 703292 tickets over 429 performances and consolidate its position as the world's highest-grossing play in history. This play, a product of Disney's theatrical productions company, first went on stage in 1997 and so far has had sales of more than one billion and 942 million dollars. Hamilton theater, with 102 million dollars, and Wicked, with 101 million dollars, have ranked after The Lion King, respectively. This is while Broadway's total sales in 2023 were more than one billion and 604 million dollars.Broadway's other superlatives
The largest number of performances in 2023 was for The Lion King theater, with 429 performances, and the play Wicked, with about 764 thousand tickets sold, sold the largest number of tickets in 2023. Broadway's most expensive ticket related to the play "The Music Man," which was 878 dollars, and the cheapest ticket, at 59 dollars, belonged to the play "The Shark is Broken."The top visual arts
Among the most important visual arts events, one can point to the sale of these works. According to information published by the Artchart site, total sales of Iran's modern and contemporary art in all auction houses in 1402 (2023/24) reached 16 million and 823 thousand and 146 dollars and, compared with 1401 (2022/23), was able to experience 65 percent growth. Tehran Auction, as the official venue for art transactions in Iran, is usually held once every 6 months. This Tehran visual arts auction was held three times in 1402 (2023/24). Its seventeenth round was held on 30 Tir (June–July) 1402 (2023/24) and was able to end its work with total sales equal to 214 billion tomans, equivalent to 4.3 million dollars. The most expensive work of the Tehran art auction was an untitled painting by Sohrab Sepehri. This work ultimately sold for 21 billion and 300 million tomans. The eighteenth round of the Tehran visual arts auction was held for the first time online in Azar (November–December) 1402 (2023/24). In this auction, total sales of 61.8 billion tomans, equivalent to 1.22 million dollars, were obtained. The most expensive work of the Tehran art auction was the work "Western Woman on a Persian Carpet 2" by Parviz Tanavoli, at a price of 5.5 billion tomans, equivalent to 109 thousand dollars. The nineteenth round and the last Tehran art auction in 1402 (2023/24) also ended its work with total sales of more than 266 billion tomans, equivalent to 4.8 million dollars. The most expensive artwork entered in this Tehran auction belonged to one of Sohrab Sepehri's works. This Sohrab Sepehri work is from his Trees series, which sold for 20 billion and 400 million.Iran's most expensive visual artwork at an art auction
The most expensive work of Tehran Auction in 1402 (2023/24) was Sohrab Sepehri's untitled painting at a price of 21.3 billion tomans (432,487 dollars), which was sold at the seventeenth Tehran auction. This painting, with a creation date of 1340 (1961/62), was depicted after Sepehri's trip to Japan in 1339 (1960/61) and shows his influence from Eastern art. This canvas was in Ebrahim Golestan's collection and had also previously been offered at the ninth Tehran Auction.The world's most expensive artworks in 2023
World visual arts sales in 2023 were not able to continue their astonishing trend of 2022. The sales value of the top one hundred artworks at 2023 auctions totaled 2.4 billion dollars, a figure that, compared with 4.1 billion dollars in 2022, has declined sharply. The painting "Woman with a Watch" by Picasso, with sales of more than 139 million dollars, was named the most expensive painting of 2023. This canvas is the second most expensive painting by Picasso, the Spanish painter, sold to date. The painting "Women of Algiers," which in 2015 sold for 179 million dollars, is the record holder for Picasso's most expensive artwork sold.The best social network for producing content
These days social networks have become the unrivaled leader of the advertising industry. Social network influencers have become the popular and famous faces of society and earn a great deal of income from this fame and popularity among people. In 2023, the top 50 content producers on the largest social networks, by attracting a combined 2.92 billion followers, pocketed 700 million dollars. Among them, TikTok, with 40 percent of total followers (equivalent to 1.2 billion followers), is far ahead. After that, content producers on YouTube, with 724.8 million followers, and Instagram, with 642.2 million followers, rank next.Millionaire MrBeast
Jimmy Donaldson is the 25-year-old YouTuber nicknamed MrBeast, who, with 377.1 million followers, has more than 82 million dollars in annual income from producing content on YouTube. This figure is 11.7 percent of the total income of the world's top 50 YouTubers. Jimmy's fame is mostly for the astonishing stunts and challenges he publishes on YouTube. Some of his videos are documentaries with a dash of humor and comedy that display the human effort to survive and are very engaging; for this reason he can be named one of the superlatives of the world's cultural industries in the field of YouTube content production.The top names in the publishing industry of Iran and the world
The most important event of the country's publishing industry is the Tehran International Book Fair. A substantial share of this industry's turnover is owed to the book fair. Total sales of the thirty-fourth Tehran International Book Fair, which was held in Ordibehesht (April–May) 1402 (2023/24), were more than 401 billion tomans. Iranians bought books worth 251 billion and 290 million tomans in the in-person section and 149 billion and 800 million tomans in the virtual section of this fair. The number of books purchased is estimated at more than 3/5 million copies. The largest number of book titles last year, with 23406 titles, belonged to the children and young adults field, and after that the fields of literature, with 18516 titles, and educational aids, with 14952, ranked next. The largest number of original titles, with 13775 titles, belonged to the educational-aids field, and the children and young adults field, with 9825 titles, had the most translated works. The literature field, with 11379, offered the most first-edition works, and the children and young adults field, with 13967 titles, offered the most reprints to the market.The bestsellers of Iran's publishing market
The absence of precise statistics on book sales in Iran's publishing market has led to speculation about bestselling works, and the media publish lists in this field according to taste that are completely in contradiction with one another. The Iran Book News Agency has listed the children and young adults bestsellers from several reputable bookstores, of which the two books "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" and "Purple Pastilles" are among the bestsellers of nearly all these bookstores. According to statistics that Fidibo has also published, the audiobooks "Vanilla and Chocolate" by Behnaz Bargozideh, "A Murderer's Account" written by Kim Young-ha, translated by Khatereh Kardkarimi and narrated by Hootan Shakiba, and Kelidar written by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi and narrated by a group of narrators were among the bestselling audiobooks of 1402 (2023/24). Taqche too has introduced the audiobooks "The Compound Effect," "Mind Mastery Techniques," and "Have Courage" among its bestselling books.America's bestselling books
America's 25 bestselling books of 2023 sold more than 21 million copies in total, most of which works were created by women writers. Overall, 17 books of the 25 bestselling print books in 2023 were created by women writers. Colleen Hoover in 2023, with the book "It Ends with Us," with sales of nearly 1.3 million copies, stood in first place. This author's book "It Starts with Us," too, with sales of 1.25 million copies, took second place in sales. The book "Spare" written by Prince Harry, with sales of more than 1.2 million copies, took third place on the 2023 bestsellers list. Only 6 children's book titles made the list of 25 bestsellers. The highest-selling of them, the book "Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea" written by Dav Pilkey, was the only children's book and sold more than one million copies.Computer and mobile games
Digital games are among the fields of the creative industries whose market grows warmer every year. Although Iranian individuals and companies are also active in this arena with seriousness, official and precise figures on the sales of these games are not available, and at a minimum, to learn of the popularity of mobile games one must make do with statistics on the number of installs of these games from platforms such as Cafe Bazaar and Myket. Informal surveys are also another source for learning the popularity of digital games. With all this, Iranian game makers closed 1402 (2023/24) with an encouraging piece of news. The game "Fake Emperors" was able at America's "Game Connection" ceremony to take the award for best mobile and tablet game. The creator of this game is Mehrdad Rezaei.The top Iranian games in the view of audiences
In one survey, the games "Mafia Nights," "Shahkosh," and "Top Coach" were selected as the most popular Android games. In the same survey the game "Call of Duty" was selected as the most popular foreign game. In another survey, the games "Mr./Ms. Minister" and "Fake Emperors" were selected as the best mobile games.Iran's best computer game
The first prize for serious games of 1402 (2023/24) went to the game "Alefbashi." The organizer of this prize is the Iran Computer and Video Games Foundation (IRCG), which, by selection of a jury, is awarded to the best games of the year.The world's highest-selling game of the year
The game Hogwarts Legacy, which takes place in the world of Harry Potter, with sales of 22 million copies, became the highest-selling game of 2023. Over the 2023 Christmas holidays two million copies of this game were sold. This is while revenue from computer and console games in 2023, with 2.6 percent growth, reached 93.5 billion dollars. Console games accounted for 53.1 billion dollars and computer games 40.4 billion dollars of this total revenue. Nearly 90 percent of the revenue of games released in this year belonged to the top 43 titles.The Chinese at the top of mobile games
Mobile games in 2023 had 107 billion dollars in revenue. This revenue was solely from players' spending. That means mobile games had about 1.5 billion dollars in revenue a week worldwide. The highest spending on mobile games, at 37.6 billion dollars, is China's. After China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Germany rank next, with 24, 12.8, 6.3, and 2.6 billion dollars respectively.The popularity of role-playing games
The role-playing genre (RPG) among mobile games, with 24.5 billion dollars, took the highest revenue in 2023. After that, the strategy, match-3, and casino genres, each with 10.7, 10.2, and 8.3 billion dollars respectively, were the highest-earning mobile-game genres.Steam, the record holder for releasing the largest number of games
Steam is the principal platform for releasing computer games. Last year this platform released 14535 computer games. Compared with 2022 the number of games released has increased by nearly two thousand. Steam's closest rival is the US Nintendo Switch game store, with the release of 2360 games. The continuation of PlayStation's reign PlayStation ended 2023 by breaking the record for the most monthly active users. The number of unique users who in December played with a PlayStation console or used its services reached 132 million people. Sales of Sony's ninth-generation console in 2023 were also nearly three times greater than those of its rival, namely Xbox Series X/S. Sony in its current fiscal year also sold 25 million PlayStation 5 units, which also broke the company's record for the highest console sales in a 12-month span.The top names in the toys industry
It appears that with the dominance of digital games, the market for physical toys has gone slack. Even so, the toys market in past years has always faced growth, and it is imagined that it will increase from 122.9 billion dollars in 2022 to 183.15 billion dollars by 2030. World population growth and a turn toward smart, high-tech, and interactive toys can be counted among the factors affecting the growth of the global toys market. In 2023, two groups of the 11 main toys groups experienced year-on-year sales increases. Building Sets toys, with four percent, took first place in terms of sales growth, and after that soft and plush toys, with a three percent increase, took second place. In 2023, the toys brand "LEGO," as in previous years, was recognized as the most valuable toys brand. On the other hand, toys with authors' rights (especially cartoon and film characters) accounted for 31.1 percent of the total toys market, which shows the continuing importance of characters and licenses in sales. Pokemon retained its position as the world's highest-selling toy property, followed by familiar classics such as Barbie, Star Wars, the Marvel universe, and Hot Wheels.Tourism in Iran and the world
Among the fields of the cultural industries, tourism has the highest income. Despite the restrictions of the COVID era, in five years the people of the world spent four trillion dollars on travel and tourism, while the entire fields of the creative and cultural industries in this period did not have such a turnover. It is forecast that this figure, with eight percent growth in 2024, will break a record and reach 930 billion dollars. Nearly half of this spending, namely 1.85 trillion dollars, was for hotel bookings. After hotels, the highest spending was for package holidays, at 1.28 trillion dollars. Europeans too, with 1.2 trillion dollars in spending on travel and tourism, were the highest-spending region in 2023. Americans, with 917 billion dollars in spending, had the highest spending on travel and tourism after Europeans.Tourism in Iran
Tourism in Iran, especially domestic tourism, like other fields of the cultural industries, suffers from the absence of precise and transparent statistics. The number of inbound tourists in the first eight months of last year was 4 million and 400 thousand people who traveled to Iran for the motives of trade, treatment, pilgrimage, and tourism. Another figure that is published officially concerns Nowruz tourist statistics. According to these statistics, 57 million and 118 thousand and 123 overnight stays were recorded at Nowruz 1402 (2023/24). The provinces of Tehran, Alborz, and Markazi had the most traffic in the Nowruz holiday period (25 Esfand (February–March) 1401 (2022/23) to 15 Farvardin (March–April) 1402 (2023/24)). The highest growth in traffic also occurred, respectively, in the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, Ilam, and Khuzestan. The most visited destinations were, respectively, the provinces of Mazandaran, Gilan, and Razavi Khorasan. The provinces of Tehran, Alborz, and Razavi Khorasan had the largest share in sending travelers. Qeshm Island, with the arrival of two million travelers and 36 percent growth relative to last year, recorded a new record and by itself received travelers equivalent to 15 of the country's provinces.France, host to the largest number of tourists
France has for years, like a tourism magnet, attracted the largest number of tourists in the world.The world's most visited place
The Dubai Mall in 2023 had more than 105 million visitors, a figure that makes it the world's most visited place in 2023. The number of visitors to The Dubai Mall, compared with 2022, had 19 percent growth. The Dubai Mall is part of the 20 billion dollar Burj Khalifa project, the world's tallest structure. This shopping center's events and advertising in 2023 and the beginning of 2024 were one of the main reasons for this number of visitors. Important events such as the Dubai Shopping Festival, the Dubai Food Festival, and the extraordinary three-day sale showed this shopping center's ability to attract and draw massive crowds.London, host to the most passengers
In 2023 Europe's airports had more than 2.3 billion passengers. This figure has had 19 percent growth relative to last year but is still five percent below the pre-COVID level. The busiest airports were located, respectively, in the cities of London, Istanbul, Paris, Amsterdam, and Madrid. This growth was mostly thanks to a 21 percent increase in international passengers. The number of domestic passengers also had 11 percent growth.America leading in passenger traffic
In 2023, America had the most air passengers, but with the lifting of travel restrictions in China, that country will have the most passengers in 2024.The world's most sought-after visa
Last year France had the highest volume of demand for visas. This ranking has been obtained on the basis of the number of searches for these countries' visas. The visa for France was searched more than two million and 400 thousand times last year. Canada, with nearly two million, and Japan, with 940 thousand searches, are in the next places.The cultural and creative industries in 1403 (2024/25)
A review of each of the fields of the cultural and creative industries shows that these industries continue their growth year after year. The entry of generative artificial intelligence into the arena of these industries will probably create changes in its various fields, and investment in generative artificial intelligence will have consequences for actors in the cultural and creative industries. Progress in artificial intelligence technology and increased demand for personalized content will cause the growth of the global artificial intelligence market in the creative industries. In 2022, the value of generative artificial intelligence in the creative industries reached 1.7 billion dollars; it was forecast to reach 21.54 billion dollars by 2023. Generative artificial intelligence will be effective in producing text, image, music, video, modeling, and 3D animation, and will transform the games, film and television, advertising and marketing, and music and sound-production industries. In order not to fall behind the global current and to have a share in the world market of the cultural and creative industries, attention is needed to investment in generative artificial intelligence in the various arenas of these industries.Machine-translated from Persian by Namafar; the Persian original is authoritative. Read the original in Persian