TEHRAN – Iranian Vice President Ali-Asghar Mounesan has discussed ways with his Bulgarian counterpart Iliana Iotova to expand tourism ties.

The visiting Iranian official on Friday proposed exchange of experience in the arenas of traveling, cultural heritage and traditional crafts, the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) reported.

Mounesan, who also presides over Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, welcomed Iotova’s proposal for setting up tourist routes between the two countries in which the two ancient capitals are involved.

“These routes can include the Western Balkan countries, with Bulgaria as a center of this cooperation,” Iotova said.

Iotova said that there is a lot of untapped potential in the relations between Bulgaria and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

She also said that to increase a tourist flow between the two countries, infrastructure and transport connections need to be improved.

The officials agreed that a 1967 cultural agreement between Bulgaria and Iran to be extended for a new three-year period.

Some six million foreign travelers visited Iran in the first half of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21), according to data compiled by the CHHTO. The number shows 51 percent year-on-year growth in comparison with the same period last year.

AFM/MQ/MG