(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Iran has attracted over 3.93 million foreign tourists in the past seven months, an official in Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) said.
Deputy Head of the ICHTO for Tourism Affairs Manouchehr Jahanian said that Iran's tourism sector witnessed a 26-percent rise in the number of foreign tourists in comparison with the corresponding period last year
Early in April, Jahanian said, "More than 4.5 foreign tourists have entered Iran in last year creating jobs for over 2.5 million people either directly or indirectly by spending more than $9 billion in the country." He noted that most of the foreign tourists came from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iraq, Turkey, India and Pakistan
The official pointed to the diversified climate and the numerous tourist and historical attractions as advantages of Iran's tourism sector
A US newspaper wrote in November that Iran's tourism industry has flourished and the number of foreign tourists visiting Iran has increased in recent years despite the US-led sanctions targeting the country's economy
From 2004 to 2010, the annual increase in tourists visiting foreign countries was 3.2 percent worldwide, according to the UN World Tourism Organization
Iran's figures over the same period show tourism in Iran grew at a much faster clip (12.7 percent).
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