TEHRAN – Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province and Oman are scheduled to operate joint travel tours for European nationals in a bid to boost cooperation between the two neighbors. 

“Sistan-Baluchestan province and Oman will soon be operating integrated [package] tours for European target countries,” CHTN quoted provincial deputy tourism chief Mojtaba Mirhosseini as saying on Sunday. 

“During recent negotiations with Omani tour operators, which are engaged with European tourist destinations, necessary agreements have been reached that could pave the way for increased international tourist arrivals in the province,” the official said. 

“Since a majority of inbound tours are arranged for several specific and traditional destinations like Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz, and due to the distance, few tours are organized to Sistan-Baluchestan from these routes (traditional destinations in Iran), so Oman can be regarded as a strategic and effective route for the development of tourism in the province,” the official explained. 

Elsewhere in his remarks, Mirhosseini said some agreements have been reached with Omani private investors in that regard.
“Upon follow-up consultations with the private sector in Oman, we are expected to have a boom in foreign arrivals in the province in the near future through this new route.” 

Over the past couple of months ago, separate groups of European sightseers have made excursions across the vast enigmatic province, which is amongst lesser-known destinations of the country. The groups of French, Italian and British tourists visited attractions in Zabol, Nimruz, and Hamun. They also set up an overnight camp in the [UNESCO-registered] Lut desert.

The vast province was long shunned by potential foreign and domestic travelers though it is home to several distinctive archaeological sites and natural attractions, including two UNESCO World Heritage sites, namely Shahr-e-Soukhteh (Burnt City) and Lut desert, parts of latter is situated in Kerman province.

For mainstream Iranians, the name of Sistan-Baluchestan conjures up stories of drought, desiccated wetlands, and dust storms. On the international scale foreigners may consider it a reminiscent of the big red blot on the Iran safety map.

AFM/MG