Deputy of Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) Morteza Rahmani Movahed said on Monday that some 5,200,000 foreign tourists visited Iranian tourist attractions last year, IRNA reported.
Every foreign tourist spends about 1,700 dollars during stay in Iran bringing total revenue of 8-9 billion dollars a year, he said.
Iran should absorb some 20 million tourists a year in the period of ten years and 25 billion dollars revenue, he said.
Currently, most foreign tourists are from neighboring states such as Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Turkmenistan, he said.
He said that following a decree issued by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, all should help increase number of foreign tourist to five folds.