Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 11
By Temkin Jafarov - Trend:
A tourist train will be running between Iran and Austria, said the message posted Sept.11 on the website of Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organization.
The corresponding agreement between the two countries was signed Sept. 11 in Tehran.
The message said that the first tourist train on this route will be commissioned in the next six months.
The signing ceremony was attended by the head of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Masoud Soltanifar, representatives of the Iranian railway company and three Austrian companies.
A 20-year development program of Iran (till 2025) provides for the promotion of the tourism industry and an increase in tourist flow from 5 million to 20 million people.
Tourists come to the country to visit the holy places, historical monuments, for treatment and for trading purposes, according to official statistics of Iran.
Since 2014, Iran began to organize VIP travels for European tourists to the country on a luxury train in order to increase the interest of European tourists in the country.
The train runs from Budapest to Iran through Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.
The Iranian Tour Operators Association's President Ibrahim Purfaraj said in an interview with Iranian media in October 2014 that over 12,000 residents of European countries have applied to the association to take part in the tourist VIP travel to this country on a luxury train.
Edited by CN
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