The agreement on visa-free tourist trips between Russia and Iran will start working in 2023, the list of tour operators that will be able to form groups has already been agreed. According to Interfax, this was announced by the head of the Ministry of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov at the session “International Dialogue Russia – Iran” as part of the MITT tourism exhibition.
“This year we plan to move to the implementation of an agreement on visa-free group tourist trips. The list of tour operators who plan to form such groups among Russians has already been agreed,” the minister said.
We are talking about groups of up to 50 people entering for up to 15 days.
“More than 60 constituent entities of the Russian Federation showed interest in this work; they collected a list of 260 companies. And we have already passed this document through the Foreign Ministry to our colleagues from Iran. We are waiting for a similar document from you in order to launch a tourist exchange,” Reshetnikov added.
Since July 1, 2021, an agreement on visa-free group travel has been in force between Russia and Iran. Within its framework, citizens of both countries are allowed to visit the second camp without a visa only in a group and for a period not exceeding 15 days. The group should be led by a representative of the tourism organization that sent it.
Deputy Minister of Tourism, Cultural Heritage and Handicrafts of Iran Aliasgar Shalbafiyan said that even now Russian tourists can obtain visas at the airport upon arrival in Iran.
Reshetnikov also noted that an electronic visa should become an alternative mechanism for quickly organizing travel to Russia for foreign tourists.
“We plan to resume issuing these visas so that everyone can apply for a document without leaving their homes,” he said.
Source: Rosbalt
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
