Iran is increasingly focusing on citizens from neighboring Iraq to boost its tourism sector.
Iraqi citizens have traditionally constituted a major share of total inbound tourists to Iran, but their main purpose of travel to the Islamic Republic has mostly been to visit are increasingly focusing on purposes for which Iraqis travel to Iran in recent months.
In November 2017, the idea of creating an "Iraq Desk" at the Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization was floated. It was slated that the public and private sectors would work together to expand the role of Iraqi tourists in the inbound market.
ICCHTO figures show that 1.63 million Iraqi tourists visited Iran during the first six months of the current fiscal year that ended on Sept. 22. This indicates a significant 102% surge compared with the corresponding period of the year before when Iran hosted about 812,000 Iraqi visitors.
Experts believe that the first step to attracting more Iraqi tourists is to know why they enter the country and planning about how to organize them.
According to Mohammad Ebrahim Larijani, ICCHTO's deputy for tourism marketing and publicity, the next step should be to diversify services and goods offered to Iraqi tourists so that Iran can attract more visitors from the neighboring nation to the Islamic Republic's recreational and medicinal facilities in addition to its religious shrines.
"We have to have product diversity because Iraqis who travel to Iran have several cultures, languages and dialects," Larijani also told Donya-e-Eqtesad economic newspaper.
Medical, Recreational Purposes
Medical tourism is one of Iran's emerging sectors that is also eyed for development.
The official said the private sector is working closely with the state to develop infrastructures and services.
"We have visitors from Europe who come for skin and hair treatments. From the Iraq market, visitors travel to Iran both for hospital operations and diagnoses," he said.
Larijani noted that ICCHTO is pursuing several measures, including offering facilities like T visas (to encourage victims of certain serious crimes to cooperate with law enforcement officials) and special attractive rates for medical services at hospitals with trained personnel that boast departments for international patients.
The official outlined that ICCHTO is increasingly paying attention to recreational tourism as an area that could boost growth of inbound Iraqi tourists.
"Provinces like Mazandaran and Gilan can play a vital role in acting as attractive destinations," the official said, adding that many Iraqi tourists are keen on visiting Mazandaran after they have visited the holy city of Mashhad for religious purposes.
According to Larijani, another positive aspect of touting the northern provinces as attractive destinations means that such tourists will have longer stays that could last for more than two weeks and sometimes up to a month. He added that this is already happening, but unfortunately without any organization or planning.
"The point is that this will be economically viable because many Iraqis currently enter Iran without a tour and spontaneously take both pilgrimage and recreational paths, so local tour agencies remain bereft of the potential profits," he said.
Larijani dismissed the idea that Iraqis do not usually use predefined tours, stressing that he has studied the inbound Iraqi market.
The cost of traveling to Iran has significantly cheapened for foreign tourists in the past few months as Iran's rial has notably devalued since US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the country's landmark nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions
The official conceded that authorities and private sector players will probably be unable to incentivize Iraqi citizens living in regions bordering Iran in the form of tours, but said citizens residing in other provinces far from the border will have enough reason to respond to tour offers.
"On the other hand, we may not be able to define tours in terms of religious visits because Iraq has many direct flights scheduled to Iran's religious destinations like Mashhad and its citizens are familiar with the destinations," he said.
"The two other areas of medical and recreational tourism have the potential to prove fruitful."
This is especially true since the cost of travel to Iran has significantly cheapened for foreign tourists in the past few months. Iran's rial has notably devalued since US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the country's landmark nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions.
Private Businesses' Complaint
But as with all other sectors of Iran's economy, private businesses complain that the government does not give them enough room to work, leading them to have a minimal share of inbound tourism profits.
"At present, the private sector has no share of Iraqi tourists," Hormatollah Rafiei, the head of Iran's Travel Agencies' Guild Association, told Donya-e-Eqtesad.
"This is because no infrastructures have been put in place and Iraqis are travelling to Iran for pilgrimage, recreational purposes, medical treatment, or to purchase something, mostly due to currency fluctuations," he said.
Rafiei opined that if Iraqi citizens are guided to employ the services of local travel agencies, they will have a more fulfilling experience and help the agencies at the same time.
"Only then will tourism figures stop declining and the end result will be a win-win scenario," he said.
