TEHRAN – Currently, 243 tourism-related projects worth 310 trillion rials (around $7.3 billion at the official rate of 42,000 rials) are currently being developed in Khorasan Razavi province by private investors. 

“For the time being, 243 projects in tourism [and hospitality] arena worth 310,000 billion rials are being developed across the province…. And their total values are added up to 600,000 billion rials (around $14 billion) if the worth of land properties are included,” deputy provincial tourism chief Ahmad Dinari announced on Monday.

The projects, which are of nearly 47 percent completion on average, have generated jobs for over 11,000 people, the official noted.

Moreover, the province has attracted 82 million dollars of foreign investment [since 2013 onwards] in the tourism sector, which has led to the creation of jobs for 1,890 people during the period, he explained.

Mashhad, the capital of Khorasan Razavi province, is Iran’s holiest and second-largest city. Its raison d’être and main sight is the striking massive shrine complex of Imam Reza (AS), the eighth Shia Imam

Dozens of five-star hotels and hostels are dotted across Mashhad. The city has also the highest concentration of water parks in the country, and it also embraces a variety of cultural and historical sites that are generally crowded. The metropolis is also a good place to buy top handwoven rugs and carpets, and it’s a staging post for travel to Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and little-touristic Khorasan regions.

Before the coronavirus puts almost everything on lockdown, Mashhad, played host to thousands of travelers and pilgrims who come from various Iranian cities, neighboring countries, and even across the globe to visit the holy shrine.

According to official statistics, some 37 million Iranian pilgrims and travelers visited the shrine city of Mashhad during the first ten months of the past Iranian calendar year 1398 (started on March 21, 2019). Of whom some eight million came by road, six million by rail, 3.8 million by air, and 18 million by private cars.

AFM/MG