Principal tourist attractions include historic and beautifully decorated mosques, mausoleums, and minarets. There are many sports and physical culture societies in Tehran and the provinces; emphasis is upon skiing and weight lifting.
Tourism, which had been stagnant since the 1979 revolution, has begun to grow since the death of Ayatollah Khomeini and the government's attempts to establish closer ties with the West. In 1999, 1,320,690 tourists visited Iran, over 50% from Europe. Tourism receipts totaled $662 million. That year there were 22,321 hotel rooms with 46,826 beds.
According to 1999 UN estimates, the cost of staying in Iran was approximately $142 per day.
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