TEHRAN – Rather than being just a stopover for travelers from neighboring countries, the western province of Ilam could become a tourism hub, an official with the tourism ministry has said. The border province of Ilam attracts a large number of tourists a year from neighboring countries, particularly Iraqis, who just pass through the province on their way to other parts of the country, Javad Vahedi explained on Tuesday. However, the province itself could become one of the country’s tourism hubs, allowing travelers to stay and visit the province for a few days by developing tourism infrastructure, the official added. It is important to pay attention to the neighboring provinces of Ilam in Iraq as a way of introducing Iranian handicrafts and attracting Iraqi tourists to the country, he noted. There are many handicraft capabilities in the province of Ilam, which if supported will be an effective support for job creation and prosperity for art, he mentioned. Home to almost half of Iran’s UNESCO sites, western Iran is a land of hospitable people, wild extremes, and wilder history, and it may be an independent traveler's adventure playground.

The region also witnessed the rise and fall of many great empires once bordering Mesopotamia, Ottoman Turkey, and Czarist Russia.From the fecund Caspian coast to the stark, mountainous northern borders, and the crumbling desert ruins of the southern plains, the region hosts everything from paddy fields to blizzards to Persian gardens.ABU/AFM