The booming industry of tourism in Iran is a hidden treasure for investors, Iran’s tourism chief Masoud Soltanifar said on the sidelines of a ceremony for inaugurating Tehran’s Espinas Palace Hotel on Monday.

The 500-room hotel in northwestern Sa’adatabad neighborhood was used to housing high-ranking officials during the summit of Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) from November 20 to 23. However, it was officially opened during the Monday ceremony.
Iran’s First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri, Tehran’s Governor General Hossein Hashemi and several other officials attended the ceremony.
The Espinas Palace Hotel is opened very well-timed when the doors of Iran are opened to tourists, Soltanifar said.
The tourism industry has been revived during the past two years, he added.
He said that the new U.S. legislation, which clamps visa restrictions on people who have traveled to Iran, has no affects on the Iranian tourism industry.
Despite the legislation, Iran has been named as one of the five tourism destinations for 2016 by authentic international associations and media, he said.
Over 900 tourism projects are underway in Iran and 125 four- and five-star hotels are being constructed in the country, Soltanifar added.
First Vice President Jahangiri, for his part, called Iran the safest place in the region.
“The government urges investors to be active in the field of tourism industry,” he said, adding that the country is now providing infrastructures to boost tourism industry.
During the ceremony, the project investor Ali-Asghar Amiri also explained about the construction of the hotel.
“To be successful in a project, you should do it with all your heart! I wanted to do a memorable work by constructing the hotel,” he said.
Amiri said that the government supports the tourism projects but that is not enough.
“The government should accompany the projects to the last point,” he said.
He asked officials to provide investors with good finical support to boost tourism industry in the country.