Rouhani’s Charm Offensive is Reaping Tourism Dollars for Iran

Iranians can count more than five billion reasons the economy is looking better under President Rohani than it did under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the tourism sector alone. According to Bloomberg, Iranian tourism in the past year brought in about $5 billion and it being attributed to Rohani’s efforts to reach a rapprochement with the United States. The news agency reports that European airlines are returning to the Islamic Republic for the first time since the revolution in 1979, while major international hotel chains are seeking out venues for five-star properties. The Iranian government is responding aggressively to the newfound interest in tourism, including easing visa requirements for a number of nations in order to make Iran more tourist-friendly.