TEHRAN – Iran recorded more than three million foreign tourist arrivals in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (1401, which started on March 21), the deputy tourism minister has said.

“In the first nine months of this year, more than three million tourists entered the country, of which 14% were one-day visitors,” Mehr quoted Ali-Asghar Shalbafian as saying on Tuesday.

“In 1400, more than 1.3 million tourists entered the country, of which 11% were one-day visitors,” the official stated.

Talking about the number of outbound passengers, the official said: more than seven million Iranian nationals traveled abroad [during the mentioned period], and of the number about six percent, were one-day visitors.

He put the number of outbound passengers at 2.8 million for the past Iranian year, adding some 10% of the passengers were one-day visitors.

Earlier in August 2022, the tourism minister Ezzatollah Zarghami announced that the Islamic Republic had recorded about 2.9 million foreign tourist arrivals “over the past 11 months.” “With the support of President Ebrahim Raisi [the issuance of the tourist] visas has been resumed and 2,900,000 people entered Iran in less than a year. And this amount is growing and increasing,” Zarghami said in a televised speech.

The minister added one of the priorities that his ministry follows was to develop tourism ties with the neighboring countries. “Our priority is to strengthen relations with neighboring countries and now we are pursuing the project of cheap overland travels with neighboring countries.”

The Islamic Republic expects to reap a bonanza from its numerous tourist spots such as bazaars, museums, mosques, bridges, bathhouses, madrasas, mausoleums, churches, towers, and mansions, of which 26 are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

AFM