TEHRAN—Zanjan province is now recognized as a symbol of changing travel patterns in Iran. This transformation could open up new avenues for the development of modern event-based tourism in the country.
The province saw a 171 percent increase in the number of tourists last year, making it the second most popular non-overnight tourist destination in Iran, Miras Alia (CHTN) reported.
According to the latest report published by the Iranian Parliamentary Research Center (Majlis) on the topic “Monitoring and Analysis of Spring Domestic Tourism from 2011 to 2024”, Zanjan province has been hailed as having the highest quantitative growth in tourism in the country, with a 171 percent increase in the number of domestic trips compared to 2020.
This achievement positions Zanjan as one of the new driving forces for tourism growth in Iran and draws attention to the province’s new tourism potential.
Davu Abian, deputy director of Zanjan Tourism Board, said: “In the spring of 2024, the number of trips to traditional destinations such as Isfahan, Yazd and Kerman decreased, but the significant increase in trips to Zanjan Province reflects the fact that people’s travel options are increasing. Tourism experts see this trend as a sign of the increasing importance of tourism events and the diversification of tourism products, especially for younger generations.
Zanjan province is one of the most traveled destination provinces in spring 2024, both with and without overnight stays.
Abyan said this impressive growth has made Zanjan a top tourist destination in the country, along with provinces such as Gilan, Mazandaran, Isfahan, Fars, Tehran, Kermanshah, Khuzestan, Qazvin and Khorasan Razavi.
He pointed out that after analyzing data, one of the main factors for the increase in tourism to Zanjan is its geographical proximity to the densely populated Tehran province, the desire of tourists to visit lesser-known cities, and the fact that the province hosts important religious and cultural events.
According to the ranking, Zanjan is currently the third province in the country in terms of hosting tourism events.
He said that in addition to these factors, official advertisements and content generated by users in cyberspace play an important role in introducing new tourist attractions to Zanjan province.
KD