TEHRAN - Russia’s Mantra Tourus Holding is willing to foster collaboration with Iran’s tourism sector as the two counties scrap visa requirements for groups of five to 50 travelers.

On Tuesday, Mantra Tourus’s board of directors visited Iran’s deputy tourism minister Ali-Asghar Shalbafian to discuss ways to reinforce collaboration in several areas including accommodation, ski resorts, and theme parks.

The holding company expressed enthusiasm for tourism interactions and investment opportunities within Iran's tourism sector as well, Mehr reported.

Suggestions were made to develop theme parks in Iran in collaboration with Mantra Tourus, promote the southern regions of Iran, and enhance sports activities. Additionally, the discussion included the need to improve air travel connections between Iran and Sochi for easier accessibility.

Moreover, the high tourism service prices for Iranian travelers to Sochi were also addressed during a meeting.

On August 1, Tehran and Moscow Russia officially implemented visa-free tourist exchanges dedicated to groups of five to 50 travelers. In a similar agreement, Russia inaugurated another mutual visa-waiver program with China on the same day.

“Now, Russians will enjoy visa-free access to two of the oldest and richest civilizations on Earth —both of which also happen to be Moscow’s key strategic partners,” Sputnik reported on Tuesday.

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.

As mentioned by the report, Iran and China can proudly boast their status as among the oldest continuously surviving civilizations on Earth, with all the cultural, archeological, architectural, and other splendors that come with such a status while Russia is known to be home to dozens of major lost ancient historical empires and has its own thousand-year history to speak of.

AFM