TEHRAN – Iran’s outbound tourism fell 11 percent during the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 21) from a year earlier, a tourism official has said.

“3,092,759 Iranians traveled abroad in the first five months of the year that shows 11 percent decrease year on year,” said Mohammad Khayatian, a deputy for the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization.

“Turkey, Iraq, the UAE, and Georgia were respectively the mostly visited destinations in the mentioned period,” he added.

CHHTO Director Ali-Asghar Mounesan said in September that foreign arrivals in the country surged 45 percent in the first five months.

Dramatic changes in the value of rial, the Iranian currency, have had a significant impact on the country’s tourism sector. 

Since the year started, the rial has lost more than half of its value against various foreign currencies as the country is bracing for U.S.-led economic sanctions.

AFM/MQ/MG