Head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Ali Asghar Mounesan inaugurated a project to build 25 ecolodges and four tourist complexes on Thursday during a trip to Golestan Province.
"I hope that tourism will find its rightful place in the province, so it becomes one of the country's top tourism destinations as it is rich in natural and historical potential," CHTN quoted Mounesan as telling the unveiling ceremony via video conference.
"Luckily, ecolodges have provided a good source of employment for villagers and added to the country's tourist accommodation capacity. Some 2,000 ecolodges will hopefully be launched by the end of the current government's tenure [2020]," he added.
Director of Golestan Province's ICHHTO office Ebrahim Karimi also addressed the event where he hailed the promising tourism prospects in Golestan Province.
"Over 240 billion rials [$5.7 million] is planned to be invested in the project," he said, adding that the number of ecolodges in Golestan will reach 100 by the end of this year (March 2019).
The unveiling ceremony was attended by Governor General of Golestan Province Manaf Hashemi, Mohammad Hassan Talebian, cultural heritage deputy at the ICHHTO, and Parham Janfeshan, managing director of Revitalization and Utilization Fund for Historical Places.
