TEHRAN – The Ahvaz tourism department is set to organize free familiarization tours on a weekly basis in a bid to promote traveling to the southwestern Iranian city.

 “Free-of-charge tours are scheduled to start by the month of Mehr [starting Sep. 23] with the aim of promoting awareness about tourist attractions, historical sites and urban landscape in Ahvaz,” Ahvaz tourism chief Gholamreza Jalilinia was quoted by the CHTN as saying on Thursday.

Ahvaz is capital of Khuzestan Province.

“The excursions will set off from the headquarters of the Ahvaz tourism department on Fridays with tour guides to provide necessary information… coffee, tea and local dishes will also be served to visitors,” Jalilinia stated.

Khuzestan province is home to three UNESCO World Heritage sites of Susa, Tchogha Zanbil and Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System yet it is a region of raw beauty where its visitors could spend weeks exploring.

The province is also a cradle for handicrafts and arts whose crafters inherited from their preceding generations.

Back in June, Alireza Izadi, the provincial tourism chief, announced that Khuzestan had set a goal to increase the value of handicraft exports per annum to $7 million within the next three years from then around $3 million.

Khuzestan exported $3 million worth of handicrafts in the previous Iranian calendar year 1396 (March 2017-March 2018).

AFM/PA