Iran issues 30-day visas for tourists from 180 countries

Feb 13,  Foreign Ministry offices in provinces, and especially country’s international airports are directed to issue 30-day visas for nationals of 180 countries, deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs Abbas Araqchi said on Saturday.

Araqchi made the remarks in a meeting of Isfahan Governor General, mayor, head of Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture of Isfahan province.
He highlighted the role played by tourism to boost national economy.
He said that the JCPOA provided a golden opportunity to resolve Iran’s economic problems and pave the way for Iran’s advancement and economic development.
Araqchi stressed that the Foreign Ministry is the path opener, while the people and economic activists should use this opportunity to develop their international activities.
Meanwhile, Araqchi advised the private sector activists that signing international memoranda of understanding and agreement is the first steps to keep up with the protocols.
He said that the private sector can do the job freely without going through such procedures.

Iran to Get Luxury Hotel Along Caspian Sea as Tourism Thaws

(Bloomberg) — Iran, where beaches are segregated by gender and alcohol is banned, is getting its first foreign-branded seaside hotel, complete with swimming pools, bars and a spa.

Melia Hotels International SA plans to open the five-star property in a 130-meter (427-feet) tower on the Caspian Sea as early as next year, the Spanish hotel operator said in a statement on Wednesday. The announcement comes after a slew of trade sanctions on the Islamic republic were lifted in January.

“We firmly believe in Iran’s tourism potential,” Chief Executive Officer Gabriel Escarrer said in a statement, which didn’t say whether alcohol will be served at the bars. “We have always been pioneers in the development of new markets.”

Iran’s first foreign-branded hotels in decades arrived in October, when French operator Accor SA opened a Novotel and an Ibis near Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport. Hoteliers including Dubai-based Jumeirah and Abu Dhabi-based Rotana want to cash in on growing tourism in one of the Middle East’s oldest civilizations, with its ancient ruins of Persepolis, pristine Persian Gulf beaches and snow-capped skiing slopes.

Salman Shahr

The Gran Melia Ghoo hotel will form part of a new district being built in the resort of Salman Shahr. It will compete with a property being built by Rotana to become the first luxury hotel operated by an overseas company in Iran since Ayatollah Khomeini’s revolution forced Hyatt, Sheraton and owners of other brands to flee in 1979.

Iran will probably have almost 900 hotels within five years, compared with 768 now, according to a forecast by Euromonitor International. Lodging revenue is set to increase about 25 percent during that time, the firm predicts, as the number of visitors is forecast to grow by a similar percentage to 6.3 million.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity,” said Nikola Kosutic, Euromonitor’s head of Middle East research. “The quality of accommodation is not according to Western standards, and we expect a great shift on that front, mostly through launches of international hotel chains.”

Tehran and the religious pilgrimage site of Mashhad will probably draw most of the investment, with the ancient cities of Isfahan, Shiraz and Tabriz also considered attractive tourist destinations, according to Euromonitor.

Still, some of the biggest hotel companies are holding back. U.K.-based InterContinental Hotels Group Plc, owner of the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza brands, currently has no plans to expand to Iran, a spokesman said. U.S.-based Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., is also holding off, despite seeing “significant potential for hospitality growth,” the company said in an e- mailed statement.

Remaining Restrictions

While the the UN, U.S. and European nations lifted sanctions connected to Iran’s nuclear program in January, other restrictions tied to accusations of terrorism and human rights abuses remain.These prohibit U.S. companies from doing business with certain Iranian counterparts.

For Melia, based in Palma de Mallorca, the lifting of the sanctions means it can enter before U.S. competitors do.

“Our Mediterranean roots make it easier for us to connect with the Middle East hospitality concept and philosophy,” Escarrer said in the statement.

Foreign tourists spent billions in Iran last year

A senior Iranian official says millions of foreign tourists spent nearly eight billion dollars in the country last year.

Masoud Soltanifar, head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, told reporters on Monday that some five million foreign tourists visited Iran last year, spending at least 7.5 billion dollars.

“Currently, the country’s income from tourism industry accounts for half a percent of the global revenue,” Soltanifar said, adding that the government seeks to increase the figure to two percent by 2025, IRNA reported.

The senior official, who is also a deputy to the Iranian president, noted that Iran ranks 47th on the list of countries with highest tourist number, saying that given its tourist destinations, the country needs to attract some 20 million foreign visitors by 2025.

A New York Times report last month said tour operators in America have been speaking of a surge in bookings by many Americans who, undeterred by a State Department warning about travel risks to Iran, are keen on visiting the country.

Iranian officials told the Associated Press last fall that the country’s tourism sector aims to attract $30 billion by 2025.

Iran hosts some of the world’s oldest cultural monuments, including 19 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and its varied terrain ranges from desert locales to ski resorts.

Iran tourism, however, reportedly suffers some deficiencies such as shortage of enough hotels and some financial restrictions for foreign money transfers.

Officials say hotel groups from Germany, Greece, South Korea and Singapore traveled to Iran last year for talks on hotel construction.

Europe’s largest hotel group Accor has already built two four-star hotels at Imam Khomeini International Airport outside the capital, Tehran.

Also, the UAE-based Rotana plans to open a five-star 600-room hotel in Tehran and another in the city of Mashhad, which attracts millions of pilgrims each year.

Iranian Banks to Open Branches in Turkey

TEHRAN (FNA)- Two Iranian banks have reportedly applied to do business in Turkey, the Turkish media said on Wednesday.

The media in Turkey have reported that two Iranian lenders have applied to do business in the Turkish market.

“We have taken demands from Iranian banks. Two Iranian lenders want to take banking license in Turkey,” reports have quoted Mehmet Ali Akben, the head of Turkey’s Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, as saying.

Akben, who did not name the Iranian banks, has further emphasized that further interest in the Turkish market is expected from the Iranian banking sector in the upcoming period of the post-sanctions era.

He said that Turkey’s banking sector operates in accordance with global standards, and this has given much prestige to the sector.

This is while the preferential trade agreement with Iran, which came into effect in early 2015, has already paved the way for Iranian banks to enter the Turkish market.

Iran and Turkey have been pursuing increasing widening of their ties in various fields in the last two decades. Iran is a main energy supplier to Turkey and Ankara has made huge investments in Iran.

Earlier this month, Iranian First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri called for the further expansion of bilateral ties with Turkey, and underlined that the two countries should increase their trade balance to $30 billion in the near future.

“A suitable roadmap should be drawn up for expansion of Iran-Turkey relations so that volume of bilateral commercial and economic transactions will be upgraded to $30 billion a year in a short period of time,” Jahangiri said, addressing a joint meeting of Iranian and Turkish traders, also attended by visiting Davutoglu, in Tehran.

He went on to say that Iran and Turkey are important, great and influential countries in the region.

“Iran and Turkey hold good and growing relations and can have positive and constructive impact on destiny of the region, specially in a juncture that the world of Islam faces many problems. Tehran-Ankara cooperation can play an important role in settlement of the problems,” Jahangiri added.

He also said that good accords were reached between the two countries and they had made good decisions in various domains, including oil and gas, customs, banking and tourism cooperation.

Jahangiri urged the Turkish tourists to travel to Iran, and said Tehran wants Turkish financiers to invest in tourism in Iran and build hotels and be active in other tourism infrastructures.

Iran Lifting Visa Requirements with 28 Countries

TEHRAN (FNA)- President of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Masoud Soltanifar said Tehran is planning to lift visa restrictions with 28 countries.

The official said the plan is to lift visa requirements with 28 countries in an effort to boost the mutual tourism ties with the target countries.

He said the countries with which Iran plans to lift the visa requirements will be from a total of 40 countries to expand cooperation in travel and tourism.

Soltanifar added that Iran is also working on a separate plan to promote tourism cooperation with 15 neighboring states.

He further emphasized that official figures show there has been an increase of 12 percent in the number of foreign tourists who have visited Iran over the past two years.

This, the official emphasized, is while the number of visits by foreign tourists at the international level has shown an increase of only 6.4 percent over the same period.

Soltanifar had earlier announced that some five million foreign tourists visited Iran last year. He had also stressed that Iran would need to attract some 20 million foreign visitors by 2025.

Iran hosts some of the world’s oldest cultural monuments, including 19 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and its varied terrain ranges from desert locales to ski resorts.

The country has devised a series of plans to bring its hospitality standards to international levels. To the same effect, related companies from Germany, Greece, South Korea and Singapore are already discussing hotel projects with Iran.

Europe’s largest hotel group Accor has already built two four-star hotels at Imam Khomeini International Airport outside the capital, Tehran.

Also, the UAE-based Rotana plans to open a five-star 600-room hotel in Tehran and another in the city of Mashhad, which attracts millions of pilgrims each year.