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Travel to Iran has never been easier for Americans than it is right now, and it turns out many are using this new opportunity to catch a glimpse of a country that conjures up strong images.
It appears that the number of US citizens who have submitted and had their visa applications approved in recent months is much higher than at any time since the Islamic revolution, a trend that many find perplexing, but shouldn’t.
No one can argue the richness of the ancient Persian culture, as the entire country is literally covered with evidence of it from the 2500-year-old ruins of Persepolis to its intact medieval capital, Esfahan. In fact, it has been a top destination of travelers for centuries.
A handful of American tour operators have been selling packages to Iran for the past few years, however demand had always been sporadic, mostly due to fear, however the fact remains that Iran is a very safe destination for visitors, and apparently those intrepid American souls who have made the journey are getting the word out.
At the forefront of this expanding American market is an operation with an office in San Francisco. Orient Star Tour Operator of Tehran, in cooperation with Jerry Dekker, a professor (formerly of New College,) and San Francisco native, have been sending Americans to Iran for over a decade.
The team will have a booth at the Adventure Travel Expo in New York this weekend for the second year in a row, and Dekker will deliver a speech. The topic: Discover Iran for Yourself.
Dekker is perhaps the American most qualified to give such a talk, having lived in Iran from 1970-1979 where he taught in Iranian universities. In 1997 he was invited back to begin offering tours of Iran to interested Americans. Over the past 12 years he's taken several dozen groups to Iran, but reports that the interest has never been higher than it is right now.
To Dekker, though, these aren’t just mere tours; he places an emphasis on creating people to people bridges between American and Iranian citizens.
We'll have to check in with some of the tour groups when they return to the US and get their impressions.
More Information About Travel Adventure Expo - Orient Star & The perfect time for a trip to Iran