Iran’s cultural heritage and historical sites have seen a massive rise in the number of visitors during in the first 10 days of the Iranian new year (started March 20).
Until March 29, “millions of people visited historical and cultural sites across the country in since the beginning of the new year, signifying a 47% rise compared to the same period of last year,” Morteza Rahmani Movahed, deputy for tourism at the Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organization, said on Wednesday.
The new year, or Norouz, holiday lasts two weeks, so the figure is expected to rise, ISNA reported.
The official said the growth in the number of visitors “is a testament to the coordinated effort by various organizations to help Iran reach its full potential” and increase domestic travel.
Until March 1, the number of scheduled Norouz holiday flights had increased by 14% compared to the corresponding period of last year, according to Reza Jafarzadeh, the public relations officer at the Iran Civil Aviation Organization.
“Of the 19,500 scheduled flights, only 6,000 are international,” he said in February.
Iran has a plethora of attractions, including 19 world heritage sites. Many sites, such as museums, offered discounts during the holiday in a bid to draw more visitors; a move that seems to have worked.
