By June Ramli  

Welcome to another episode of 30 minutes with DailyStraits.com. Our guest today is Tehran-based journalist and travel writer Simin Saghafi.  I met Simin several years ago as a reporter during a work to Iran. My first impression of the country was that its people were stunning and that its tourist areas such as Persepolis had a lot to offer.  So, our topic today is going to be about turning a passion such as travel into a business. If you follow Simin’s social media pages like I do, you’d know that she is a successful travel writer as well as an accomplished travel agent who specialises in the Iranian market both inbound and outbound wise. Before COVID hit, Simin was employed by a Balinese travel agency whose job was to specialise in bringing Iranian tourism to Bali. But our discussion today is going to be solely centred around Simin as a businesswoman and her tips to those wanting to make their first trip to Iran. Without further ado, let’s invite Simin to the show.   

In this podcast, we discuss:   

• What are some of the places that Iranian tourists like to visit?  
• Are Iranian tourists big spenders?  
• Where are some of the countries that Iranians love to visit the most?  
• What sort of preparation should one take before visiting Iran?  
• What are some of the best places - tourist spots to visit while in Iran?  
• Do women tourists still need to wear the headscarf while in Iran?  
• Best times to visit Iran.  

Without further ado, let’s watch the interview here that was recorded on March 31 this year: