The number of foreign tourists visiting Iran over the past Iranian year, which ended on March 20, saw a 4.33% rise compared to the previous year.
According to the latest stats released by Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, 5.1 million foreign travelers visited Iran last year, registering an increase compared to the previous year's 4.9 million, ICHHTO's public relations office reported.
Mohammad Sabet-Eqlidi, director of Tourism Development and Planning Office at the organization, provided the details of the statistics.
"Figures show that men comprise over 70% of incoming tourists and women's share has only been about 29% ," the officials said.
Iraq, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, India, China and Germany were the11 top source markets for Iran.
Among European countries, Sabet-Eqlidi added, there were people visiting Iran from France, Italy, the Netherlands, Britain, Austria, Sweden, Spain, Belgium, Poland, Denmark, Greece, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Romania, Croatia and Ireland.
According to the official, the majority of tourists entered Iran through land borders while the remaining traveled by air and sea.
Foreign tourists might choose to visit Iran for medical treatment, pilgrimage or recreational purposes as well as visiting historical and cultural attractions or simply paying a visit to their relatives living in Iran.
Iran has set a long-term goal of attracting over 20 million foreign tourists until 2025, which is too ambitious according to some international tourism experts.
Iranian officials have about seven years to try to quadruple the number of inbound tourists.
