SHIRAZ, Iran (CNN) -- Iran is making new efforts to encourage tourism, an area of the country's economy that suffered in the wake of the Islamic revolution decades ago. The bid for tourist dollars has taken on a new urgency following a recent slump in world oil prices that further crippled an economy beset by rising inflation and persistent unemployment.

Travel agencies have visibly multiplied in this country and there has been an increasing demand for their services.

In the southern town of Shiraz, for instance, there are clear signs that tourism is on the increase -- particularly since reformist President Mohammad Khatami called for greater cultural exchanges with the United States a few months ago.

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Shiraz is home to some of the country's most magnificent buildings and sights. Increasingly, it appears, tourists from Europe and the United States are flocking into this provincial capital, which by the 12th century A.D. was the literary capital of Persia.

The authorities have been repairing tourist sites -- such as the Bazaar-e-Vakil -- that had been neglected for the past 20 years, following an Islamic revolution two decades ago that painted international visitors as people who would bring cultural decadence to Iran.

Takht-e-Jamshid -- or Persepolis, as the Greeks called it -- is another spectacular tourist site that has been neglected in recent years, attracting merely a few predominantly Iranian tourists.


Takht-e-Jamshid, top, is one of the most sought after tourists sites in the world. Shiraz, center, is home to some of the most magnificent buildings in the country. Bazaar-e-Vakil, bottom, is one of many tourist sites being repaired after having been neglected for the past 20 years.

Even though it can safely be described as one of the world's greatest archaeological sites, tourists in Takht-e-Jamshid have been sparse so far, with the guard often cutting a lonely figure.

Factoid:

Takht-e-Jamshid (Persepolis): One of the world's greatest archaeological sites south-east of Tehran. The Achaemenid Emperor Darius I (ruled 522-486 B.C.) intended it to be the ceremonial capital of Persia. But before the planned city could be completed it was sacked and burnt down by Alexander the Great in 330 B.C. Pillars and other parts of many buildings are still standing.

For Iran's younger generation, born after the Islamic revolution by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979, the opening-up is an exciting process.

However, many people are aware that the return of tourists depends very much on the government's commitment to opening up the country as well as Iran's image abroad.

Factoid:

Shiraz: By the 12th century, it was Persia's literary capital. Celebrated for many centuries for its wine, silver filigree and silk rugs, Shiraz today is the commercial center of this predominantly farming region.

Khatami -- who came to power in May 1997 and has been under pressure from conservative hard-liners ever since -- was expected to outline his economic reforms later this month.

Tourism may well figure as part of the reforms needed to battle an official inflation rate of 17 percent and unemployment of at least 9 percent.

Correspondent Kasra Naji contributed to this report.

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