Over 5 mln foreign tourists visited Iran in 6 months

Speaking on the occasion of the Government Week, Masoud Soltanifar said that the increase in foreign tourists' entry is thanks to the proactive foreign policy of President Hassan Rouhani's cabinet.
The CHTHO chief said that some 50% of the foreign tourists are pilgrims of Iran's holy sites in Qom and Mashad, Shi'a Muslims wishing to use Iran's religious tourism capacities.
On the nationality of the tourists, the vice president said that some 1,6 million of them were from Iraq, some 500 thousand from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and other southern countries of the Persian Gulf, some 300 thousand from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Central Asian countries, all visitors of Iran's holy sites.
He said that even the pilgrims of the Iranian holy sites, after their pilgrimage visit the beautiful nature of our country and the Iranian historical monuments.
Soltanifar added that the Western and Southeast Asian countries' tourists initially visit the country's historical and cultural attractions and they usually visit the attractions of the Iranian two major central deserts.