TEHRAN—Mashhad’s tourism directorate has conducted guided city tours for the hearing-impaired people.

More than 40 people, who were unable to hear, joined special sightseeing tours in Mashhad, CHTN reported on Wednesday.

The day-long tour was part of an extensive local program held to mark the National Tourism Week in Iran, which began on September 27, concurrent with World Tourism Day, the report said.

Ferdowsi Mausoleum, Khorasan Great Museum, and Mashhad Botanical Garden were among the destinations they visited, the report said.

According to official data, Mashhad, which is a prime destination for Shia pilgrims and medical travelers in northeast Iran, recorded some four million overnight stays, mainly by domestic travelers, in the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 21).

The metropolis is Iran’s holiest and second-largest city. The raison d’être is the striking shrine complex of the eighth Shia Imam that is encircled by dozens of five-star hotels and many other accommodation centers.

Every year, over 20 million pilgrims visit the holy shrine and perform a set of traditions, one of which is the upper-mentioned salutation rituals.

Mashhad’s medical tourism revenues were about 1.119 trillion rials (some $2.2 million) during the first three months of the current Iranian year, which shows 35 percent growth year on year, according to data compiled by the Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. Moreover, the statistics suggest the number of international travelers receiving medical services had increased by seven percent compared to the same period a year earlier. “A total of 13,948 foreign nationals received medical services in Mashhad this spring while the number reached 13,074 in the same period last year.”

In August 2020, the spiritual tradition of pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) was registered on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage list by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts.

AFM