“The Russian fair is very important [for us] so that we
should have a strong and influential presence in this exhibition… One of
the major issues is to pursue and finalize visa cancellation for
Iranian and Russian group tours,” Ali-Asghar Mounesan said, CHTN
reported.
He made the remarks at a meeting with representatives of the private sector active in tourism projects.
In December, Mounesan announced that Tehran was considering to allow
Russian tourists to visa-free entry into the country to boost tourism
after it granted the same privilege for some other nationals including
Chinese and Omani passport holders.
In 2017, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian counterpart
Vladimir Putin inked a preliminary visa-free agreement for certain
tourist groups during their meeting in Moscow.
Based on the agreement tour groups of 5 to 50 people heading to
[easternmost parts of] Russia from Iran or vice versa are granted a
visa-free stay of up to 15 days.
MITT is the largest B2B travel & tourism trade show in Russia,
attracting representatives of the tourism industry from Russia, regions
and all over the world.
According to organizers, a total of 22,289 travel industry
professionals visited MITT in 2019. The participants ranged from the
representatives of tour operators, travel agents to various other
companies involved in the travel industry such as airlines, transport
companies, hotels, and IT businesses.