Travelers Planning Vacations In Iran When Sanctions Lift
Business travelers are already traveling to Tehran to explore business opportunities, hoping that sanctions will be lifted soon.
More tourists are traveling from Frankfurt, Rome, Istanbul and the few other places that have direct flights to Iran.
The Iranian government says it expects a 6.6% rise in the number of tourists for Y 2015.
President Hassan Rouhani’s administration has made tourism development one of its major policy goals in a drive to revive an economy buckling under sanctions.
“We divide our tourists into 4 groups,” Iran’s Vice President for Tourism and National Heritage Masoud Soltanifar said in an interview.
“We have a lot of religious tourists who come to visit our many shrines. Then we have a lot of medical tourism. But we also have a lot of cultural and nature tourism.”
Mr. Soltanifar acknowledges that the tourism sector in Iran has a long way to go. International sanctions are some but not all of the problems, but not all of the woes.
“In 10 years time we want to have 20 million tourists here in Iran and are expecting a revenue of about 30 billion dollars. This is our goal and we have a program to achieve that goal. Of course the lifting of sanctions would certainly help us.”
The ancient city of Shiraz embodies the wealth of tourist attractions in Iran.
There are several unique religious sites, like the Vakil and the Nasir al Mulk mosques.
Nasir al Mulk, also known as the pink mosque, was built in the 19th century.
It is unique because of it use of pink and red tiles and colorful windows that create an ambient light effect on the walls and the floor of the main prayer room, especially in the dawn hours.
There is the castle of Karim Khan, who used to be the governor of this area in the 18th Century.
And there is the Eram garden, an historic and elaborately planned horticultural attraction now run as a botanical garden by the University of Shiraz.
The tomb of Hafez, probably the most influential in Persian history, is also popular with visitors.
The tomb is embedded into a garden that also has a cultural learning center where students learn to interpret Hafez’s poetry.
Many Westerners have concerns about traveling to Iran.
Some worry about security and others about the political situation.
One problem for foreign visitors is that Western credit cards are not accepted as Iran is cut off from international money transfers by international sanctions.
One reason why the government hopes these will soon be lifted.
The archeological sites are remarkable, with its many temples and former palaces, that lay in ruins since they were destroyed by the army of Alexander the great around 330 BC.
The columns and frescoes are made mostly of black and gray marble that was mined in quarries around the site.
Iran is a country with much to offer tourists in terms of nature, culture and religion.
International negotiators currently working in Vienna to strike a deal over Iran’s nuclear plans will have a lot of influence on whether more tourists from around the world will be able to experience them.
Stay tuned…
HeffX-LTN
Paul Ebeling
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