MNA – Ali Asghar Mounesan, the head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organization, said that a center has been formed in his organization to explore ways to boost the tourism industry under US sanctions.

Speaking on a visit to the northern province of Gilan, Ali Asghar Mounesan, said on Monday that Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organization has taken measures to secure the continuation of foreign flights into the country under the sanctions.

Mounesan added that a center has been established in his organization to make decisions on reducing impacts of sanctions on the tourism industry.

The head of Iran’s tourism organization also said Iran has focused its attention on attracting tourists from the regional countries, increasing the number of target countries, reducing Iraqi visa fees to zero, visa waivers for Omanis, adding that the measures his organization has taken increased the number of tourists from 2,700 to 12,400 during the first 3 months of the Iranian year of 1398 (March 21 2019-20) compared to the same period last year.

Referring to the growth of the tourism industry by 52% last year, he said that the number of foreign tourists visiting Iran increased from 4.7 million in 1396 (March 21 2017-18) to 7.8 million tourists last year.

Mounesan pointed to recent government decision to allow visa-free entry of the Chinese nationals into Iran and said that China had as many as 150 million tourists in 2018. He added that China can be a major tourism market for Iran.

He further noted, there soon will be intensified advertising efforts in China by his organization to introduce the Iranian tourist attractions to the Chinese.