More than nine million Iranians traveled abroad in the last Iranian year (ended March 20, 2017), showing a significant increase compared to previous years.
According to Abdolreza Mohajerinejad, director of Tourism Development and Planning Office, 3.4 million Iranians traveled overseas during the first five months of the current year (started March 21), which shows a 20.9% increase compared with the same period of last year when outbound tourists numbered 2.8 million.
"Turkey, Iraq, the UAE, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Germany and Saudi Arabia are the most popular destinations," he was quoted as saying by ISNA.
Mohajerinejad noted that the higher cost of services and lower diversity of goods in Iran compared to other countries are the main factors causing Iranians to opt for foreign destinations.
"Proper measures need to be taken to boost the domestic travel market so that it can rival foreign tourism," he said.
Add new comment
Read our comment policy before posting your viewpoints