The Iranian delegation was led by Mohammad Qassemi, director general for Iran’s Tourism Marketing and Promotion, and Demyan Smilevets, the head of the International Cooperation Department of the Federal Agency for Tourism, led the Russian delegation.

During tourism committee meeting, the two sides exchanged views about tourism cooperation in a friendly atmosphere, IRNA reported.

Both countries reviewed ways to share experiences in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and measures to thwart the threat posed by the pandemic to the tourism industry.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, inked a visa-free agreement for tourist groups on March 28, 2017. Based on the agreement, tour groups of five to 50 people heading toward Russia from Iran, or vice versa, will be granted a visa-free stay of up to 15 days.

To implement it, it was necessary to set up a joint action plan to specify the process. The joint action plan of the two countries has been prepared for the three-year period, 2020-2022, which can be extended and revised.

Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Ali-Asghar Mounesan recently said he would visit Russia to attend the B2B negotiations by September 21 in order to carry out the final negotiations on the Iran-Russia visa waiver deal.

Ali-Asghar Mounesan said that although the Persian New Year (started on March 20, 2020) began with the coronavirus outbreak, the year should see a big development in the tourism industry, according to chtn.ir.

“This year should be the year of accelerating construction projects, and the measures that have already been started need to be followed up and the projects should be fully operational,” the minister added.

Mounesan pointed to the activities of a number of handicraft workshops during the coronavirus days to produce masks and medical gowns, adding that, it is an altruistic act that people working in the workshops have turned the virus threat into an opportunity.

The minister continued, “We will definitely have an unprecedented surge in the number of trips after coronavirus outbreak, and much of the tourism losses will be made up by the boom in travel; therefore, all provinces must be prepared to welcome tourists.”

He also said on April 14 that the ministry is pursuing the allocation of about $250,000 to compensate for the damages to Iran’s tourism infrastructure.

Mounesan noted that the World Tourism Organization recently issued a report estimating that international tourist arrivals could decline by 20 to 30 percent in 2020. Arrivals could also return to seven years ago due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, mcth.ir reported.

“The organization has estimated a loss of 290 to 440 billion dollars,” Mounesan pointed out.

The containment of the pandemic is the utmost priority and the tourism sector is committed to supporting all measures taken to curb the outbreak. UNWTO is working closely with the World Health Organization, its member states, and the industry to ensure a coordinated and effective response, he added.

The provincial head of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department, Majid Safaei said that the mountainous province enjoys ample attractive features that make it known as the land of four seasons.

Safaei in an interview with IRNA said on Tuesday that “this year, 1,200 foreign tourists have so far been visiting Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.”

He added that the total number of foreign tourists visiting the province last year was 1,311.

The official said that creating appropriate infrastructure in tourism, including growth of hotels’ capacities, transportation (air and rail), recreational and accommodation camps and tourism target villages, could greatly attract larger numbers of tourists.

The province is mostly mountainous in terrain, part of the Zagros range. The highest point is the Dena summit with a height of 5,109 meters (over 4,000 meters high above the sea level) which is covered with oak forests.

There are over 250 tourist attractions in the province comprising of historical monuments and eye-catching natural beauties.

The city accommodates 2,600 historical monuments from which 750 have been recorded as Iran’s National Heritage List.