TEHRAN – Head of the Association of Iranian Travel Agents has emphasized the need to attain a balance in tourist flow rates between Iran and Turkey.

“Iran intends to reach a balance with Turkey in the movement of tourist flow,” Hormatollah Rafiei said in a meeting with Firuz Baglikaya, the head of the Association of Travel Agencies of Turkey, Trend reported.

Rafiei and Baglikaya also inked an agreement to expand cooperation in tourism industry.

Talking at the signing ceremony, Baglikaya expressed that there is no balance between the two countries in the tourism sector, saying “For creation of it there is work to do.”

Iran topped the list of international arrivals in Turkey in the first two mounts of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-May 21, 2018). Over 350,000 Iranians visited Turkey in the two-month period, which contributed to 11.7 percent share of its total arrivals. 

There are plenty of  reforms, which have been implemented in Iran towards simplification of the procedure for obtaining entry visas, in particular, the practice of issuing 30-day visas directly at Iranian airports for citizens of 180 countries has been introduced, and an online hotel booking system for Iran operates. Visas can now be obtained electronically from Iranian consulates or international airports, the report said.

Additionally, taking into account that Iran- the center of Shiite Islam - is one of the main centers of Muslim pilgrimage, so religious tourism is very developed and the most important place from this point of view is the city of Mashhad which attracts a huge number of Iranian and foreign tourists (a total of more than 4 million people a year).

AFM/MQ/MG