YAZD Managing Director of Iran Travel and Tourism Organization Mohammad Reza Sayed-Hosseini said here recently that over 10,188 tourists visited Yazd's historic sites in the past two months.

He told IRNA that the tourists were from Europe, the U.S. and Southeast Asia, adding that "the figure showed a 100 percent increase compared to the same period last year."

Over 180 historic sites out of 3,000 in Yazd have been registered as national heritage.

Earlier in May, the Customs Administration said that 1.3 million tourists visited Iran last year (ended March 20) which registered a 14 percent rise compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, some 2.1 million foreign tourists are to visit Iran this year, according to a survey on tourism titled Iran Developments and Government Performance', published by the Management and Planning Organization (MPO).

It said due to measures taken to strengthen security in the country, the number of foreign tourists visiting Iran has grown significantly.

Tourism experts maintain that one of the important reasons for growth in the number of foreign tourists was the improved security conditions in the country.

Iran's tourist revenue stood at $1.923 billion during the second Five-Year Development Plan (1989-1994). The plan had estimated the figure to be $974 million.

The figure registered a rise of 112 percent in the number of tourists visiting Iran by the end of the second development plan.

(IRNA)