The 17th Golden Eagle train is scheduled to arrive at Sarakhs Border Crossing, Iran’s frontier with the neighboring Turkmenistan, on October 7, from where it will enter the Iranian territory for a two-week “Heart of Persia” tour.
“The train that set off from Russia will arrive in Iran empty on Sunday and will be in Tehran on Monday. The 52 foreign passengers from Australia, Germany, Italy, Singapore, the US, Malaysia and Russia, whose flights will have landed in Tehran by then, will board the Golden Eagle on Tuesday and head on a journey from the capital to Mashhad, Kerman, Rayen, Yazd, Isfahan, Shiraz, Kashan, Arak, Shushtar, Shush, Veresk and Pol Sefid and back to the capital. After the tour ends, the train will head back, again empty, to Russia,” CEO of Pasargad Tour Agency, the Iranian operator of the tour, Ebrahim Pourfaraj, told Financial Tribune.
Pasargad Tour Agency held the first of such tours operated by the UK-based company Golden Eagle Luxury Trains in October 2014 when the first Golden Eagle train carrying more than 170 tourists journeyed across Iran.
At present, the tour is priced at a minimum of $8,000 and goes up to $14,000-15,000.
The design of the coaches and cabins dates back to the 1950s. Some coaches come with a private attendant and are equipped with en suite bathrooms.
“We expect two more visits by the Golden Eagle to Iran by the end of the [current Iranian] year (March 20, 2019),” he said.
> Change of Route
The original route taken by the Iran-bound Golden Eagle used to start in Hungary’s Budapest from the banks of the Danube to Romania, Bulgaria onwards to the shores of Bosporus in Turkey from where it crossed into Iran. This route was more popular with tourists due to the attractions and scenery along the way.
"However, since two or three years ago amid unrest in Turkey, the organizers changed the route for safety reasons and today the train travels from Russia to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to reach Iran. This has brought about a decline in the number of tourists travelling this journey,” the Iranian operator of the tour explained.
Pourfaraj, who is also the founder and head of Iranian Tour Operators Association, added that plans are to recover the previous route now that the situation has stabilized in Turkey.
> Need to Reflect Iran's True Image
We have experienced a fall in the number of foreign tourists visiting Iran so far this year compared with the similar period of last year. But this has nothing to do with the US pullout of the nuclear deal as some would presume, he added.
Pourfaraj noted that to all travelers, two things are very important: security of the destination and cost.
"We know that our country is safe. The problem lies in that we think other people from other countries know this as well. Unfortunately, this is not the case,” he told us, explaining that the security situation in Iran happens to be wrongly associated with tensions in the region.
He stressed that efforts need to be redoubled to rectify this misconception and assure foreign tourists of the security enjoyed by Iran in the region.
“I am in talks with responsible officials, namely the head of Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, Ali Asghar Mounesan, and others, to bring Iran on more international advertisement sites. We have around eight international tourism exhibitions ahead in different parts of the world and we are planning to have a strong presence in all of them. What we need today is to step up our efforts in showing not only our tourist attractions but also the peace and quiet we experience," he said.
To this end, ITOA and Pasargad Tour Agency, a leading agency in bringing foreign tourists to Iran, had gathered in Tehran around 135 renowned tour operators from around the globe in November 2008 in an event to introduce the real face of Iran to the world.
"It was a fruitful event and we plan to do the same next year, but this time with more tour operators from more countries.”
Pourfaraj expects that next spring, which is the next high season, the decline in the number of Iran’s inbound tourists will be compensated.
Tourists who visit Iran, he concluded, are culture lovers and Iran is an ideal destination for them to find what they seek.
“Iranians are hospitable, easygoing people who respect their guests above everything else. I invite everyone to visit Iran’s captivating scenic landscapes and see for themselves the diverse cultures of this ancient land,” he said.
