In a bid to attract tourists to a 70-million-year-old cave in the central province of Markazi, Iran plans to hold a tender to have domestic and foreign contractors bid to operate it as a tourist attraction, Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency reported.

The cave, locally named Chal Nakhjir, has already undergone a development project for lighting and floor preparation.

“Since 2002 over $5 million has been spent on lighting and flooring of the cave. The lighting scheme is so subtle that visitors can’t detect the light source, but all natural attractions are well-lit,” said Seyyed Mohammad Husseini, general manager of the Tourism and Cultural Heritage Organization (CHTO) in the Markazi province.

The main feature of the flooring is the minimum use of non-local construction material to preserve the originality of the age-old cave.

Now CHTO intends to have domestic and foreign operators to run the bustling tourism business focused on Chal Nakhjir, located in a hunting ground by the same name.