TEHRAN—The first group of Russian travelers has arrived in Iran under a bilateral visa waiver agreement that took effect earlier this month to beef tourism up.

The Russian voyagers arrived in Mazandaran on Wednesday to visit various attractions of the lush green province during their four-day stay, a local official said.

They are scheduled to leave Mazandaran on Saturday to fly back home from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport, Leila Azhdari added.

The long-awaited visa-free agreement, which benefits groups of five to 50 travelers for up to 15 days at a time, finally took effect after years of follow-up work. It was initially signed by former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in 2017.

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.

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.

Moreover, 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.

Sandwiched between the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and the Alborz mountains, Mazandaran features plains, prairies, forests, and rainforest stretching from the sandy beaches to the rugged mountains.

AFM