Choose Iran As Holiday Destination To Experience Iranian Hospitality - Envoy

By Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 (Bernama) -- Malaysians are encouraged to choose Iran as a holiday destination to experience the hospitality and friendliness of the Iranian people. Iranian Charge d’affaires to Malaysia Majid Saffar said that contrary to negative perception, Iran was actually a safe country, including for women travellers, and had a lot to offer tourists especially its 7,000 years of historical background. “If you visit a small city or village in Iran, whether they know you or not, they will easily invite you to their home, maybe for lunch or dinner. “I don’t know if this happens in other countries or not but tourists normally would say they never thought they would see such a situation in Iran,” he told Bernama in an interview held at the embassy Monday, in conjunction with the 36th anniversary of the Victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. However, Saffar noted that the number of Malaysian tourists to Iran was still low compared to 78,000 tourist arrivals from Iran to Malaysia in 2013, and suggested that the situation be rectified. It is important that the number is balanced to encourage deeper understanding between people from the two countries, he said, adding that it would help to enhance political, economic and cultural cooperation between the two. He said that Malaysia and Iran enjoyed great bilateral relations, especially as both countries shared the same Asian and Islamic identity. These factors could be explored to deepen ties between both nations, he explained. Saffar also noted that the presence of about 50,000 Iranians in Malaysia, consisting mostly of businessmen and university students, also contributed to friendly people to people contact between the two Islamic countries. On the 36th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, he said that a reception would be held to commemorate the success of the revolution Tuesday night where an Iranian traditional troupe will perform and an Iranian carpet exhibition held. -- BERNAMA