59% Rise in Fars Tourists

Fars Province in southern Iran hosted more than 69,000 foreign tourists in the Iranian month of Farvardin (March 21–April 20), registering a 59% increase compared with the same period of last year.

According to Mosayyeb Amiri, the head of the provincial office of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, a majority of tourists were from France, followed by Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, Donyayesafar.com reported.

The official said Persepolis had 15,338 visitors, while Naqsh-e Rostam, an ancient necropolis located about 12 km northwest of Persepolis, received 12,869 tourists. The tomb of renowned Persian poet, Hafez, was visited by 11,480 people.

A total of 10,021 tourists visited Pasargadae where the tomb of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Empire, is located.

Shiraz, the capital of Fars Province, is one of the oldest Iranian cities and home to four world heritage sites: Pasargadae and Persepolis, the Achaemenid Empire’s (550–330 BC) administrative and ceremonial capitals respectively; and Pasargadae and Eram Garden, two of Iran’s nine entries inscribed collectively as the Persian Garden.