1.1 million tourists have visited Iran in Q1, Turkey among top source markets

Iran welcomed 1.1 million international travelers including expats in the first quarter of country's current year, which started on March 21.

Iranian expats accounted for 360.200 tourists. Top four source markets for Iran during the first quarter were Iraq (246,700 tourists), Azerbaijan (227,500), Afghanistan (156,200) and Turkey (133,392). Gerami did not provide any figures for Pakistan, Turkmenistan, India, China and Germany, which round up the top 10.

In the same period, 1.98 million Iranians traveled abroad, marking a 9% increase year-on-year.

Iran has set itself a target of 6.5 million inbound tourists in the current Iranian year that ends on March 20, 2018.

The objective has been set by the Resistance Economy Headquarters, which also aims to increase domestic tourism numbers to 120 million by the yearend. Iran's ultimate goal is to attract 20 million foreign tourists annually by 2025. However, with only eight years to go, the target is highly ambitious.

Last year, some 5.5 million travelers visited Iran, generating about $8 billion for the country. Regional countries make up the bulk of inbound tourists and last year no European country cracked the top 10 source markets for Iran.
Source: Financial Tribune