TEHRAN –Over 2,000 beds are expected to be added to the accommodation capacity of West Azarbaijan province, northwest Iran, the provincial tourism chief has said. 

A total of 1,000 rooms with 2,024 beds is planned to be added to the hospitality sector of the province, Morteza Safari explained on Wednesday. 

Last May, a local tourism official announced that some 1500 beds will be added to the hospitality sector of the province.

Last April, the official announced that tourism-related projects generated 1,767 job opportunities across the province during the Iranian calendar year 1399 (ends March 21, 2020).

“The largest number of jobs is related to the issuance of licenses for handicraft producers, which has led to the employment of 549 persons,” he noted.

Last July, ISNA reported that the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has ruined more than 44,000 jobs in a once budding travel sector of the country.

Experts believe accommodation centers suffered the most as a result of the outbreak of the coronavirus in Iran and its subsequent unemployment and financial losses.

West Azarbaijan embraces a variety of lush natural sceneries, cultural heritage sites, and museums including the UNESCO sites of Takht-e Soleyman and Qareh Klise (St. Thaddeus Monastery), Teppe Hasanlu, and the ruined Bastam Citadel.

The region was home to several ancient civilizations. According to Britannica, it was conquered by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC and was named Atropatene after one of Alexander’s generals, Atropates, who established a small kingdom there. Ultimately, the area returned to the Persian (Iranian) rule under the Sasanians in the 3rd century CE.
 
ABU/AM