TEHRAN – Over 11,000 job opportunities are estimated to be generated by implementing 245 tourism-related projects across the northeastern Khorasan Razavi province, the deputy provincial tourism chief has announced. 

Upon the completion of the ongoing projects that have been underway for about ten years, a total of 11,500 jobs will be provided for the locals, CHTN quoted Ahmad Dinari as saying on Sunday. 

Some 500 trillion rials (about $12 billion at the official exchange rate of 42,000 rials per dollar) have been invested in the mentioned projects so far, the official added. 

The projects include hotels, apartment hotels, guesthouses, travel complexes, recreational centers, and villages specifically developed for health tourism, he noted. 

He also noted that foreign investment in the tourism sector of the province amounted to $90 million last year.

Mashhad, the capital of Khorasan Razavi province, is Iran’s holiest and second-largest city. Its raison d’être and main sight is the striking massive shrine complex of Imam Reza (AS), the eighth Shia Imam

Dozens of five-star hotels and hostels are dotted across Mashhad. The city has also the highest concentration of water parks in the country, and it also embraces a variety of cultural and historical sites that are generally crowded. The metropolis is also a good place to buy top handwoven rugs and carpets, and it’s a staging post for travel to Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and little-touristic Khorasan regions.

Before the coronavirus puts almost everything on lockdown, Mashhad, played host to thousands of travelers and pilgrims who come from various Iranian cities, neighboring countries, and even across the globe to visit the holy shrine.

According to official statistics, some 37 million Iranian pilgrims and travelers visited the shrine city of Mashhad during the first ten months of the past Iranian calendar year 1398 (March 21, 2019- March 10, 2020). Of whom some eight million came by road, six million by rail, 3.8 million by air, and 18 million by private cars.

ABU/AFM