Cancellation of visa with neighboring countries.. Is Iran looking for support for its tourism?

The Iranian government seeks to break further international isolation by supporting its tourism sector.

Iran decided unilaterally to cancel entry visas to 32 countries, including the Arab Gulf states and their neighboring countries.

The Iranian Minister of Tourism, Ezzatullah Zarghami, announced on December 13 that this step is a speech to the peoples of the world, to confront the phenomenon of “Iranophobia.”

Growth of the tourism sector

According to the Iranian Mehr Agency, yesterday, Saturday, December 16, the Iranian Ministry of Tourism announced that the tourism sector in Iran has grown by 48.50%, at a time when it is moving to revitalize the sector by encouraging tourism with neighboring countries, especially the Gulf.

The ministry announced that 4.4 million tourists visited the country during the first eight months of the current Iranian year (started March 21).

She added that these tourists generated revenues for the country amounting to about $6 billion, noting that Turkey, China, Russia, Sweden, India, and Germany topped the list of tourists who visited Iran, respectively, while the Arab list was topped by tourists coming from Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.

Strengthening the tourism sector

Iran's revenues from foreign tourism are estimated at about $7 billion annually, which is a weak figure compared to neighboring countries, such as Turkey or the UAE.

According to a report by the Iranian “Middle East” website, last Friday, December 15, two-thirds of the countries on the list of tourist destinations do not require an entry visa to Iran, which means that the tourism sector needs reform policies that go beyond the step of abolishing the visa to attract tourists.

Hijab law

There is a debate in Iran about the issue of obliging foreign tourists to follow the hijab law that is binding for women inside Iran, especially since foreign women are not bound by the jurisprudential rulings in Iran.

The mandatory hijab in Iran conveys a strict image of Iranian society, as Iran is the only country that forces its foreign visitors to comply with its moral laws.

The draft hijab law was one of the issues that captured the attention of public opinion in Iran, after the incident of the killing of an Iranian girl at the hands of the morality police over the issue of the hijab and adherence to it.