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Tehran, Moscow chart three-year tourism roadmap
Iran and Russia signed a three-year tourism cooperation roadmap for 2026-2028 in Moscow, aiming to remove long-standing barriers to travel, facilitate payments, improve air connectivity and revive a joint tourism committee, Iranian and Russian officials said at the Sixth Russian Tourism Forum held at Moscow's VDNKh exhibition complex.
The agreement was signed by Hojjatollah Ayoubi, senior advisor to Iran's tourism minister and head of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts’ Center for International Affairs and Diplomacy, and Dmitry Vakhrukov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, IRNA reported.
Ayoubi said the roadmap was designed to “remove obstacles to implementing previous agreements” and open “a new chapter” in bilateral tourism cooperation.
He said both countries possess vast tourism potential and expressed confidence that stronger institutional cooperation could unlock a higher level of visitor exchanges.
Vakhrukov described the document as the latest operational plan guiding tourism relations over the next three years. “We have addressed how to make access easier for Russian tourists traveling to Iran and Iranian tourists traveling to Russia,” he said, citing payment systems, visa issues and flight connectivity as key priorities.
The two sides also emphasized the importance of fully implementing bilateral monetary arrangements and enabling travelers to use bank cards linked to Iran’s interbank information exchange network (Shetab) network and Russia’s Mir payment system.
Speaking at the forum, which brought together delegates from 32 countries, Ayoubi unveiled Iran’s new national tourism and cultural branding initiative, ‘Iran; The Beginning of Every Story.’
The project highlights a series of thematic tourism routes designed to showcase the country's civilizational heritage, including journeys focused on spirituality, music, literature, calligraphy and historical centers of learning.
“We believe that wherever civilization, culture, art and dialogue among nations are discussed, traces of Iran’s millennia-old heritage can be found,” Ayoubi said, adding that Iran was developing new cultural and heritage itineraries to attract international visitors.