A top ranking official of the Russian state of Astrakhan has said a cruise shipping route will be set up between Astrakhan and Ramsar in Mazandaran Province.
Labeling Ramsar a beautiful city that has the potential to attract foreign tourists, Astrakhan Governor Alexander Zhilkin said he hopes Russian visitors will start flocking to the lush northern Iranian city.
“Russia is eager to expand bilateral ties with Iran in the field of tourism,” he said during a trip to the city over the weekend, IRNA reported.
The cruise ship, which is reportedly under construction, “will soon anchor on Ramsar’s shores”, he said.
On Sunday, a 37-member Russian trade delegation led by Zhilkin was given a tour of the city and familiarized with the city’s potentials.
Tehran-based airline Taban Air operates direct flights between the Iranian capital and Astrakhan twice a week, which is expected to help boost the number of Russian tourists in Iran.
In February, Tehran and Moscow relaxed visa procedures in what the Russian media described as “the first step toward a visa-free regime”.
According to Rosstat (Russia’s state statistics service), nearly 34,000 Iranians visited Russia in the first nine months of 2015, a rise of more than 110% compared with the same period of a year ago. About 25,000 Russians visit Iran every year.
