TEHRAN – Iran tourism chief has proposed people from across the world to opt the country for spending Christmas vacation this year.

In a tweet on Saturday, Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Director Ali-Asghar Mounesan assured people who would choose Iran as their holiday destination that they won’t forget the great memories of their trip.

“[I] invite you [to] travel to Iran, the country of love and peace in your holidays. [I] ensure that [you] will not forget great memories of this journey,” he tweeted, IRNA reported.

Millions of people across the world take overseas trips during the Christmas and New Year period, considerably boosting tourism revenues of hot destinations.

Iranian tourism officials expect a rise of overseas visitors in the coming months, as a plunge in the national currency’s value has made it extremely cheap for foreigners to visit Iran.

In October 2018, Mounesan said the number of tourists who visited Iran since the beginning of the Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2018) rose by 51 percent compared to the figure for the same period in the past year.

Lots of visitors to Iran believe that Western media often portrays Iran negatively, saying there is a widespread misunderstanding about the true nature and safety of the country, which is tainted by the reputation of some of its more politically unstable neighbors.

The 2019 Travel Risk Map, which shows the risk level around the world, puts Iran among countries with “insignificant risk”, a category where the UK, Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, and Finland are placed in.

AFM/MQ/MG