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- BUSINESS, Page 53Business NotesTOURISMClub Med It Isn't
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- Egypt has its pyramids, Rome its Colosseum. Iran has its
- attractions too, notably its Persian ruins, but few tourists
- have seen them in recent years because of turmoil within the
- country. Now, hungry for foreign currency to help rebuild its
- war-ravaged economy, Iran aims to develop a tourism industry.
- This year the country hopes to welcome 300,000 visitors who
- will bring in more than $200 million.
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- Among the first Western visitors were 33 Italians who paid
- $2,000 apiece in December for a nine-day tour of Tehran and
- major archaeological sites. Elda Chiaraviglio, a Turin travel
- agent who helped organize the group, called the visit "a leap
- backward into medieval Islam, but fascinating." While many
- Iranians remain hostile to the U.S., she noted, the American
- dollar was the only foreign currency that Iranian black
- marketeers would accept.
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