Addressing inauguration ceremony of the new director general of Kermanshah Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department, Mohammad Khayyatian added that this number of tourists arrived in Iran while the country was under sanctions.

The prevalent conditions in Iran as well as the unmanly attitude of the international community towards the establishment have prompted the officials to pay a special attention to the tourism as one of the job-generating and foreign exchange-earning sectors, he said.

Noting that future of the country’s economy will be based on tourism, he said that today, countries such as India have focused their attention on tourism.

Khayyatian also referred to Turkey’s planning for promoting tourism industry, “The country’s tourism incomes are sometimes more than that of our oil exports.”

“We are lagging behind in the sector, as it boasts of 32,000 registered historic works,” he said, noting that however given the suitable statistics, the situation is promising.

He also described Kermanshah’s 371 kilometers of common borders with Iraq as an appropriate opportunity for boosting health, pilgrimage and recreational tourism.