TEHRAN - The number of foreign visitors arriving in Iran surged 40.66 percent during spring, which corresponds to the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year, compared with the same period last year, data from the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism Organization showed on Saturday.

A total of 2,030,523 million foreign nationals visited the Islamic Republic during spring that shows a 40.66 percent increase year on year. The country hosted 1,443,551 million travelers during the same period a year earlier, CHTN reported.

Outbound tourism of the country fell by some six percent during the three-month period, putting the number of outbound passengers at 1,759,749.

To encourage potential sightseers, the Iranian government has issued a decree ordering not to stamp the passports of foreign tourist to help them skip a U.S. travel ban introduced by the Donald Trump administration.

Moreover, the Islamic Republic has turned to ease traveling for its target markets which are people from Iraq, China, Republic of Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Pakistan, and several other countries who arrive in Iran for medical, pilgrimage and cultural heritage purposes.

Some two million Iraqi nationals visited Iran during the first seven months of the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20), constituting Iran’s largest source of inbound passengers.

Iran also eyes to have a bigger share of Chinese tourism, as it, in a unilateral measure, recently approved to waive the visa requirement for the Chinese passport holders.

The 2019 Travel Risk Map, which shows the risk level around the world, puts Iran among countries with “insignificant risk”, a category where the UK, Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, and Finland are placed in.

The country boasts hundreds of historical sites such as bazaars, museums, mosques, bridges, bathhouses, madrasas, mausoleums, churches, towers, and mansions, of which 22 being inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

AFM/MG