Official: Esfahan Ready for Foreign Tourists’ Return

A local official in Iran’s central province of Esfahan says it is ready to receive foreign tourists over a year after travels were barred due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Deputy Director of Esfahan’s General Department of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Heidar Sadeghi says that hotels and ecotourism residential centers have been given guidelines on how to provide their services to comply with the coronavirus health protocols.

Sadeghi added that the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, in cooperation with the private sector, has created 200 short teasers that tell “the untold stories of Esfahan”.

Sadeghi also said the ministry is considering proposing Esfahan as a global tourism and handicrafts hub to the World Tourism Organization, to help promote the province’s tourism industry.

Esfahan province is home to more than 22,000 historical buildings and structures, among them 1,800 that are listed as a national heritage.

The province also has seven historical sites on the UNESCO world heritage list. They are the Naghsh-e Jahan (“Image of the World”) Square, Chehel Sotoun Palace (Palace of 40 Columns), Fin Garden of Kashan and the Jame’ (Grand) Mosque as well as the three Persian qanats of Vazvan, Mozdabad and Moun.

The province suffered a huge blow to its tourism industry, estimated at more than one billion dollars, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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