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Iraq, Iran plan to boost tourist exchanges to 10m
Iraq’s Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities, Ahmed Fakkak Al-Badrani said his country is ready to expand tourist exchanges with Iran to 10 million visits a year, after holding talks with Iranian industry officials in Baghdad.
Iraq currently sends around 3.5 million visitors annually to Iran, mostly for health treatment and pilgrimage. Under the new plan, the two neighbors expect to raise the figure sharply, with about 5 million travelers heading in each direction, inn.ir reported.
Hormatollah Rafiei, head of Iran’s Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies, said an Iranian tourism roadshow will take place in mid-September in Baghdad, Karbala and Basra, featuring business meetings and cultural nights designed to draw in potential partners.
During the Baghdad talks, a phone call was arranged with Iran’s Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Reza Salehi Amiri. The two ministers agreed to “hammer out” cooperation on restoring historic sites and pledged closer coordination to let tourism “flourish” through detailed planning.
Officials highlighted health, cultural and educational tourism as priority areas. They are drafting a memorandum of understanding to underpin the initiatives.
Rafiei noted that combined tour packages including other regional countries are also on the table, and both governments will make “special efforts” to push ahead with the joint projects.