TEHRAN – A total of 19 eco-lodges and guest houses were inaugurated across the southwestern Bushehr province on Monday.

Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Minister Ali Asghar Mounesan cut the ribbon on one of the eco-lodges while inaugurated 18 others via video conferencing, CHTN reported.

Mounesan also accompanied First Vice-President Es’haq Jahangiri during a visit to a regional tourism and handicraft exhibition that opened in Bushehr on the same day.

Some 2,000 eco-lodges are projected to be constructed across the country until 2021, according to officials.

Experts say each eco-lodge unit generates jobs for seven to eight people on the average so that the scheme could create around 160,000 jobs.

Having a very diverse natural setting, Iran offers varied excursions to nature lovers. Sightseers may live with a nomad or rural family or enjoy an independent stay. The country is home to abundant historical mansions, caravanserais, bathhouses, madrasas, and other massive monuments, which can buttress its budding tourism and hospitality sectors if managed appropriately and refurbished properly.

Bushehr lies near the head of the Persian Gulf at the northern end of a flat and narrow peninsula that is connected with the mainland by tidal marshes.

AFM/MG