The British media have reported a major increase in the number of travels by tourists to Iran, stressing that the country is already proving to be a surprise tourism hit.

The Telegraph reported on Thursday that there has been an ever-increasing upsurge in the number of British nationals travelling to Iran following a nuclear deal that Iran signed with the P5+1 – the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany – back in January.

“As Air France this week resumed flights from Paris to Tehran for the first time since 2008 – and with British Airways (BA) scheduled to do the same in July – a number of tour operators have said that the Middle Eastern country is proving a surprise hit,” emphasized the Telegraph.

It further quoted tourism industry insiders as saying that Iran has become UK’s busiest destination for 2016 and that the demand is expected to grow even further.

“We expect about a 50-75 per cent increase in passengers this year after a 65 per cent increase last year,” said David McGuinness, director of tour operator Travel the Unknown.

Other tour operators have told the Telegraph that Iran is already outselling the likes of Oman and Sri Lanka, and that they have been taken by surprise over the major rise in demand for travels to Iran.

Other indications, as emphasized by the daily, also show that there has been a change in the breed of travelers.

“The types of clients starting to go there are becoming more ‘mainstream’, all sorts of people are interested," said Bealby. "Iran fulfils a cultural need of phenomenal sites of antiquity that are no longer available to be seen in Syria and Libya.”

British Airways will resume services from London's Heathrow Airport to Tehran on July 14, offering six flights a week. Currently, the only airline to fly direct from London to Iran is Iran Air.