TEHRAN – Some 53 million travelers and tourists arrived in Gilan province during the first half of the current Iranian calendar year 1401 (started March 21), up 105 percent from a year earlier, the provincial tourism chief has said.

The vacationers also made over 42 million overnight stays in the northern province at authorized accommodation centers such as hotels, motels, tourist complexes, guest houses, and eco-lodge unites, ISNA quoted Vali Jahani explained on Wednesday.

In 2019, Gilan was selected as the first province to start the country’s comprehensive tourism plan, which is being developed under the auspices of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The comprehensive plan is aimed to serve as a roadmap to guide tourists from all over the globe to achieve a sustainable and competitive tourism market.

However, last year, the official announced that the tourism industry of the northern province has taken over 14 trillion rials (over $47 million) hit by the coronavirus outbreak.

Efforts are being made to help the tourism sector flourish again with continuous support and injecting a government-provided supportive package, which includes low-interest loans, into the damaged sector, he added.

Gilan is well-known for its rich Iron Age cemeteries such as Marlik that have been excavated over the past century. It was once within the sphere of influence of the successive Achaemenian, Seleucid, Parthian, and Sassanid empires that ruled Iran until the 7th century CE. The subsequent Arab conquest of Iran led to the rise of many local dynasties, and Gilan acquired an independent status that continued until 1567.

Sophisticated Rasht, the capital of Gilan province, has long been a weekend escape for residents of Tehran who are looking to sample the famous local cuisine and hoping for some pluvial action – it's the largest, and wettest town in the northern region. Gilan is divided into a coastal plain including the large delta of Sefid Rud and adjacent parts of the Alborz mountain range.

ABU/MG