TEHRAN – The number of international tourists visiting Iran’s Ardebil province rose sharply by 53 percent in the first six months of the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 21) from a year earlier, provincial tourism chief has said.

Ardebil hosted 292,826 foreign travelers from neighboring and European countries and the U.S. in the six-month period that shows 53 percent year-on-year increase, CHTN quoted Nader Fallahi as saying on Tuesday.

“A total of 191,076 foreigners arrived in the province during the same period last year,” he added.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the official announced that 56, 172 domestic travelers stayed in the province in the period that indicates a 24 percent year-on-year slump.

Sprawling on a high, windswept plateau, Ardebil is well-known for having lush natural beauties, hospitable people and its silk and carpet trade tradition, it is also home to the UNESCO-registered Sheikh Safi al-Din Khanegah and Shrine Ensemble.

AFM/MQ/MG