TEHRAN - The number of international tourists visiting Iran surged 45 percent in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 21) from a year earlier, tourism chief said on Wednesday.

Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Director Ali-Asghar Mounesan also referred to ecotourism being developed in the country saying, “Presently some 600 eco-lodges are being constructed across Iran,” CHTN reported.

Sources say the surge in foreign tourist arrivals is mainly due to rising numbers of pilgrims and visitors from the neighboring countries.

In July, CHHTO deputy director for tourism Mohammad Moheb-khodaei announced that visitors from Azerbaijan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Turkey constituted topmost arrivals in the first three months of the current year.

“The number of inbound passengers from European countries cut by 24 percent year on year during the same period,” Moheb-khodaei added.

Iran has launched extensive plans to bolster its tourism sector. Under the 2025 Tourism Vision Plan, the country is expecting to increase the number of tourism arrivals from 4.8 million in 2014 to 20 million.

AFM/MQ/MG