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Visa-free charter flights have been launched between Tehran and Sochi

The first Iranian tourists under the visa-free travel agreement arrived at Sochi’s V.I. Sevastyanov International Airport on the morning of June 21.

This is the first charter flight from Tehran. Guests from Iran arrived in Sochi under the Russian-Iranian visa-free group travel agreement. Over 100 Iranian tourists were on board.

«Iran, along with Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, is one of the top destinations for inbound tourism. The resort city of Sochi is the most popular destination, like Moscow and St. Petersburg. Business contacts with the countries of the Arabian Peninsula are being established thanks to close ties between Russia and the Middle East,» said Mikhail Zaritsky, the Acting Minister of resorts, tourism and Olympic heritage of the Krasnodar Territory.

A group of tourists from Iran will stay in Sochi until June 28. During the week, they will visit the main attractions of the resort, Sochi Park and Krasnaya Polyana.

The Russian company Mantera Travel and the Iranian company BuranPars organized the tour. Flights, transfers and accommodation with breakfast in hotels of the mountain or sea resort are included in the program. Tehran – Sochi – Tehran flight will take place once a week on Fridays. At least 1 thousand tourists from Iran will be able to visit the Russian resort by the end of the summer.

Attracting tourists from the Middle East is one of the strategic goals of the Ministry of Resorts, Tourism and Olympic Heritage. Almost 219 thousand foreign tourists visited Russia in the first quarter of 2024 alone. This is 3.2 times more than a year ago. Tourists are interested in local cuisine, shopping and events.

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The development of tourism industry cooperation with Iran was discussed in Sochi in October 2023. As part of the Iranian delegation, representatives of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Crafts of Iran, the chairman of the tourism cooperative of the Republic, as well as the heads of 10+ tour operator operators visited the Krasnodar Territory. Representatives of the two countries agreed on the development of mutual tourist flows, as well as on the opening of air traffic on the Tehran – Sochi – Tehran route.