“The halt was brutal. Since mid-September, and for six months, tourism dropped by 80 percent in our town,” said the head of Isfahan’s tourism organization, Hamid Emami, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Nasrine Hamidi, a psychologist in Isfahan, insists that people’s reluctance to visit Iran after the September 11 attacks is “totally irrational.”

“Iran is neither Afghanistan nor Iraq. There is no objective reason not to come. Nevertheless, almost all tourists refused to come last winter.”

Isfahan was united Persia’s capital at the time of the Safavids in the 17th century. Its massive central Imam square, built by Shah Abbas I, celebrates its 400-year anniversary this year.

Its three million inhabitants are accustomed to receiving an average of 400,000 visitors a year, mostly Europeans.

“Americans, who love Isfahan, hardly come anymore,” Emami said. However, since March “there have been almost 160,000 visitors, mostly Germans, French, Italians and British,” he added.

Hotel Abassi, located on the grounds of an ancient rest house for caravans, is one of the city’s grandest hotels, with 230 rooms and 25 suites. Business here has picked up after the few months of quiet.

“Fortunately, the Germans and French are returning,” said Majid Ghassemi, the assistant manager of the hotel, which has hosted in the past few months UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Spanish Prime Minister Jose-Maria Aznar, among other dignitaries.

However, visitors from Arab countries continued to come in earnest, especially Saudis, delighting in the parks and fountains of the city.

There has also been a rise in the number of young visitors to the country - including many backpackers - passing through Isfahan, and other Iranian cities, looking for adventure.

“It was my childhood dream to visit magical Persia. I am so happy in Isfahan,” said Guennadi Podborodnikov, 30, from Moscow.

Guennadi and his Italian friend Jacomo Mezzera, 33, are both traveling around the country on a modest budget. They also went to watch the sunset from the ancient Zoroastrian temple, Atash-Kadeh, eight kilometers (five miles) north of the city.

Jacomo is delighted: “Everything is beautiful, the people, the Imam mosque, Ali Qapou Palace, the bazaar. But here, it is not like in Europe, we have to follow the local forms of conduct and politeness,” he said.

A group of five Chinese were also visiting Isfahan’s attractions. They went to the bird park, famous across Iran for its thousands of bird species.

“I have not traveled much, but here I find an intense historical presence and the burdens of modernity, as in my hometown Xian. I am at ease in Isfahan,” said Xu Wen, a 36-year old electric engineer.

Elsewhere in Iran, French Ambassador to Tehran Francois Nicoullaud said Sunday, June 30, that France plans to open cultural centers in Tehran and Tabriz, Iranian news agency IRNA reported.

In a meeting with provincial Governor General Sobhanollahi, he said Tabriz is one of the most important cities in Iran, adding “its location in the close proximity to Europe is considered one of the most important economic, cultural and political centers by the Europeans.”

The French Ambassador announced France’s readiness to undertake more economic projects in Iran.