Tehran, Iran, May 20
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:
The number of European tourists visiting Iran has increased by 240 percent in the first 45 first days of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21 - May 5)
Masoud Soltanifar, Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO), said that Iran's share in world's total $1.25 trillion tourism industry is very little.
"It is while Iran is among world's top ten countries in terms of tourist attractions," he said.
He went on to note that Iran is world's 17th country in terms of safety.
It is said that annually 4 million foreigners travel to Iran, but Soltanifar explained that only one million people spend money in Iran and can be considered as tourist.
"Iran needs to improve its infrastructure and transportation system to absorb more tourists," he added.
Iran's tourism industry is booming, with more foreign travelers visiting the country than ever before. So much so that Iran's President Hassan Rouhani is hoping to attract 10 million international tourists each year.
Darvish Amiri, an official with Iran's Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization, said on Feb. 21 that some four million foreign tourists traveled to Iran in 2013, IRIB reported.
He added that the figure was very small compared to a total 1.15 billion tourist traveling around the world in 2013.
The country currently attracts predominantly medical and religious tourists, although this is all expected to change as Iran develops new relationships with foreign nations.