TEHRAN – New tourism projects worth $13.6 million are expected to advance tourism infrastructure across the northern Iranian Golestan province. 

Of the projects, 15 worth almost 140 billion rials ($3.3 million at the official exchange rate of 42,000 rials per dollar) are scheduled to be put into operation on the occasion of the Government Week (August 24-30), the provincial tourism chief said on Friday. 

Moreover, some ground-breaking ceremonies are scheduled to be held during the week with the attendance of local officials and travel insiders, CHTN quoted Ahmad Tajari as saying on Friday. 

Completed projects comprise ten eco-lodge units, two traditional restaurants, two travel agencies, and restoration of a historical monument, he explained. 

The new ones include eco-lodge unites, agritourism farms and accommodation centers worth 433 billion rials ($10.3 million) will also be commenced, he mentioned. 

A total investment value of 573 billion rials (about $13.6 million) has been channeled through the projects, which are expected to develop tourism across the northern province, the official said. 

The projects will add some 560 beds to the hospitality sector of the province and will generate 170 job opportunities for the locals, the official added.

Golestan is reportedly embracing some 2,500 historical and natural sites, with UNESCO-registered Gonbad-e Qabus – a one-millennium-old brick tower – amongst its most famous. Narratives say the tower has influenced various subsequent designers of tomb towers and other cylindrical commemorative structures both in the region and beyond. The UNESCO comments that the tower bears testimony to the cultural exchange between Central Asian nomads and the ancient civilization of Iran.

ABU/AFM