TEHRAN - A total of 2007 beds is expected to be added to the hospitality sector of West Azarbaijan province, the provincial tourism chief has said.

Currently, 41 tourism-related projects including hotels, apartment hotels, eco-lodges, and tourist complexes are underway across the northwestern province, Jalil Jabbari announced on Sunday.

The province will increase its accommodation capacity by 974 rooms and 2007 beds through the opening of the mentioned ongoing projects, the official added.

So far, the projects have progressed by 42 percent, he noted.

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

“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.

Iran considers reopening borders to foreign vacationers as its new tourism minister has said the government will soon scrap visa restrictions.

Though international tourism has revealed signs of a rebound as some destinations eased travel restrictions over the past couple of months, the lack of international coordination and slow vaccination rates in several countries and regions suggest it may need a longer time to bounce back.

On the one hand, according to the latest edition of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, an estimated 54 million tourists crossed international borders in July 2021, down 67% from the same month in 2019, but the strongest results since April 2020. This compares to an estimated 34 million international arrivals recorded in July 2020, though well below the 164 million figure recorded in 2019.

On the other hand, another research conducted by Oxford Economics on behalf of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) reveals that countries’ GDP is expected to increase only by less than one-third, as tourism is recovering even slower than expected. The research was based on the current vaccination rates globally, consumer confidence, and less stringent entry and travel restrictions in the world.

However, prospects for September-December 2021 remain mixed, according to the latest UNWTO Panel of Experts survey, with 53% of respondents believing the period will be worse than expected. Only 31% of experts expect the point to better results towards the end of the year. The survey also shows that most tourism professionals continue to expect a rebound driven by unleashed pent-up demand for international travel in 2022, mostly during the second and third quarters.

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/AFM