As the Middle East’s worst-hit coronavirus victim, Iran has lost over 21,000 of its citizens since the pandemic began to ravage the country in late February. But the immense health crisis aside, the economic cost has proven devastating for the cash-strapped government. And among the sectors almost brought to its knees is tourism.

Priding itself on the glorious ancient Persian civilization, Iran is home to 24 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which have survived foreign invasions and natural disasters over centuries and continue to maintain their appeal to visitors.

But as is the case with many of the world’s pandemic-hit nations, Iran’s tourist attractions appear to have a long way to go before revisiting their once vibrant days, when tourists from across the world swarmed them. A series of official figures released by Ali-Asghar Mounesan, minister of cultural heritage, tourism and handicrafts, are more than telling of the grim situation.

The first three months of the Iranian calendar year (March 21-June 20), the period when the virus was making its way from one province to another, Iran received only 74 foreign tourists, according to Mounesan. In the same period last year, the country hosted some 2.6 million tourists. Due to the pandemic, the minister said, Iran’s tourism has collapsed to “near-zero levels."