TEHRAN—The head of Russia’s trade mission in Iran has said the first visa-free flights of tourist groups had started between Iran and Russia.

“The first visa-free flights of Iranian tourist groups between Russia and Iran have begun,” Rustam Zhiganshin said, as quoted by Sputnik.

The long-awaited visa-free tourist exchanges benefit groups of five to 50 travelers for up to 15 days at a time.

Late in June, Tehran’s ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali announced that Iran is ready to waive visa requirements reciprocally with Russia, based on an agreement the two countries previously secured for certain tourist groups. The agreement was initially signed by former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in 2017.

According to the Russian Union of Travel Industry, the launch of visa-free travel for groups will attract even more Russians to the country.

Dmitry Arutyunov, general director of the Art Tour, believes that Iran is still an unknown destination for many potential travelers in Russia. “Our fellow citizens do not know anything about the country, but this is an interesting excursion destination for spring and autumn. There is an excellent ski resort, one of the highest in the world. Some of our tourists went there last winter and were going there this year. In the absence of alpine ski resorts, Iranian can be a good alternative,” Arutyunov said.

Furthermore, the Russian tourism expert Maria Novikova, has said Iran has become an alternative to closed countries, primarily Europe. At the same time, the prices for traveling there are low.

AFM