TEHRAN - A delegation of Indian journalists and media personnel has commenced a familiarization tour across Iran with the aim of getting acquainted with its medical tourism potentials, tourist destinations, natural landscapes, local people and their traditions.

“11 Indian journalists arrived in Shiraz on Thursday for a two-day visit to the historical, cultural and touristic sites of the [southern] city,” IRNA quoted a local official as saying on Tuesday.

The UNESCO-registered Persepolis, Pasargadae, Karim-khan citadel, Vakil bathhouse, mausoleums of Persian poets Sa’adi and Hafez, Narenjestan garden and Shah-e Cheragh (“King of Light”) mausoleum was on the itinerary of the delegation. 

Isfahan will be the subsequent destination of their journey, which is organized by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the report added. 

The Islamic Republic hosted a record high of nearly 600,000 medical travelers during the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-July 21), nearly equal to the figure for the whole past year (March 2018-19), according to an Iranian association for the health tourism promotion.

People from the Persian Gulf littoral states, Iraq and Syria, as well as Iranian expatriates residing in Canada and Germany, constituted the majority of medical travelers to the country. They received plastic, cosmetic, open-heart and orthopedic surgeries amongst other treatments.

AFM/MG