TEHRAN – Following a two-year suspension resulting from COVID-19 restrictions, the first group of Japanese sightseers has commenced an Iran excursion, a tourism official has said. 

Their itinerary commences from the northern province of Golestan, where they can visit Ashuradeh, Iran’s sole island in the Caspian Sea as well as Miankaleh Wildlife Sanctuary, ISNA quoted Abbas-Ali Emamieh as saying on Saturday.

The group is scheduled to visit the northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran and the north-central province of Semnan, he explained. 

It is hoped that this group will pave the way for other travelers and will lead to the arrival of more Japanese tourists in Iran, he added. 

Earlier in January, an official with the tourism ministry announced that the Iranian tourism industry has suffered $233m losses due to COVID restrictions over the past two years. 

“Travel is not believed to be the cause of the outbreak, rather it is a lack of adherence to health protocols that have caused the outbreak, but people canceled their trips anyway, causing major damage to the tourist facilities across the country,” he explained.

Last year the tourism ministry announced that the tourism of the country was growing before the corona outbreak, its revenues reached $11.7 billion in 2019, which accounted for 2.8% of GDP, nearing the average share of tourism in the world GDP, which was 3.2 percent.

Iran was ranked as the second fastest-growing country in tourism based on data compiled by the World Tourism Organization.

Experts expect Iran to achieve a tourism boom after the coronavirus is contained, believing its impact would be temporary and short-lived for a country that ranked the third fastest-growing tourism destination in 2019.

The Islamic Republic expects to reap a bonanza from its numerous tourist spots such as bazaars, museums, mosques, bridges, bathhouses, madrasas, mausoleums, churches, towers, and mansions, of which 26 are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Under the 2025 Tourism Vision Plan, Iran aims to increase the number of tourist arrivals from 4.8 million in 2014 to 20 million in 2025.

ABU/AFM