Russia and Iran are planning to reach an agreement on visa-free tourist trips between the countries in 2023. Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov said this today during a speech at the 29th International Tourism and Hospitality Industry Exhibition MITT.
"This year we plan to proceed to the implementation of an agreement on visa-free group tourist trips. List of tour operators who plan to form such groups among Russians (up to 50 people for up to 15 days - TASS), has already been agreed," said the minister. He added that more than 60 subjects have shown interest in this work, they have collected a list of 260 companies.
"And this document has already been passed to colleagues from Iran. We are waiting for a similar one from you to launch a tourist exchange," Reshetnikov said, referring to his Iranian colleagues.
Last September the former head of Rostourism Zarina Doguzova said that the agency began collecting applications from Russian tour operators within the visa-free agreement with Iran. Doguzova reminded that in 2021 an agreement on mutual visa-free group tourist trips of Russian and Iranian citizens came into force. This mechanism developed by Rostourism similar to the Chinese one allows Russian tour operators to accept in Russia and send tourist groups of five to 50 people to Iran without visa requirements.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: آرش (Arche)/Creative Commons 3.0
Based on materials from TASS