In the first five months of the current Iranian year (started March 21), Fars Province experienced a 235% rise in foreign tourists compared with the same period last year, the provincial head of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO), Masib Amiri, recently announced.
A total of 138,000 foreign tourists visited the province, 73% of whom were from Europe, coming mainly from Spain, Italy, France, and Germany; Asia, mostly with Chinese and Japanese tourists, with 24% of the share, followed by Oceana, America and Africa, ISNA reported.
The visitors, mostly cultural tourists, had an average age of 45. They visited three sites the most, namely the world heritage site of Persepolis, and the tombs of two globally renowned poets, Hafiz and Sa’di. Historical and cultural sites had more than 3.5 million visitors altogether.
The province also hosted 9.43 million domestic travelers.
The occupancy rate of accommodation centers topped 73% this summer.
Some 713 cases of supervisory inspections of tourism establishments took place; 216,000 promotional/advertising pamphlets were issued, and 634 hours of broadcasting cultural programs were in the resume of the province in the summer of2014.
Fars Province is one of the main tourist attractions of the country.
