Proposal to eliminate passports for travel between Iran and Türkiye
Domestic news agencies are reporting a proposal to eliminate passport requirements for Iranian and Turkish tourists to travel to the two countries. This proposal was raised at a meeting of the joint technical committee for tourism cooperation between Iran and Turkey. What are the reasons for Iranians traveling to Türkiye?
According to local news agencies, the fifth meeting of the Technical Committee for Tourism Cooperation between Iran and Turkey was held on Monday, February 15, with the participation of the deputy ministers of tourism of the two countries.
In this virtual meeting, the deputy tourism ministers of Iran and Turkey emphasized the importance of tourism exchanges between the two neighboring countries in the post-corona era. According to local news agencies, the development of bilateral protocols to accelerate the resolution of challenges that have arisen for the tourism businesses of the two countries due to restrictions caused by the corona pandemic was another central topic of the meeting.
According to these reports, one of the issues raised by Türkiye at this meeting was the proposal to eliminate passports for travel between citizens of the two countries.
According to domestic news agencies, this proposal is aimed at creating a balance in tourist exchange, and it has been decided that this issue will be specifically followed up through the relevant authorities.
The history of visa cancellation between Iran and Türkiye dates back to 1963. The good neighborly relations between Iran and Turkey led to the cancellation of visas between the two countries that year.
The number of Iranian tourists ranks fifth or sixth in Türkiye
Over the past decade, Iranian citizens have increased their visits to Turkey for vacations, shopping, and business. According to statistics published by Turkey on the number of tourists from around the world visiting the country in 2019, Iranian tourists ranked fifth in terms of number, after Bulgaria, Germany, Georgia, and Russia.
Van, Istanbul, and Antalya have been the three main destinations for Iranian tourists in recent years. Last year, the conditions and restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic had a significant impact on the number of tourists, including those traveling to Turkey. Domestic news agencies report that Iran has dropped to sixth place (in terms of the number of tourists in Turkey) in 2020.
In contrast, tourism officials from the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization have said that the number of Turkish tourists in Iran is not comparable to the number of Iranian travelers in Turkey.
According to a report published by the Turkish Hotel Association in 2017, Iranian tourists stay an average of 6 nights in Turkish hotels and spend an average of $1,000 per person - while the per capita spending of foreign tourists is $630 per person for this period.
Iranians are the leaders in buying property and obtaining citizenship in Türkiye
Iranians do not just go to Türkiye to travel. Buying property in the country, including for citizenship purposes, has increased among Iranians in recent years.
Data from the General Directorate of Real Estate and Documents of Turkey shows that 6,694 foreign nationals acquired Turkish citizenship through the purchase of property in Turkey between 2017 and 2019.
The number of Iranians in this two-year period, based on this report, is 1,475, ranking first. After Iranians, Iraqi nationals have registered the most cases of obtaining citizenship through the purchase of property in Turkey.
Comparison of the tourism industry of Iran and Türkiye
On average, about 12 percent of Turkey's GDP belongs to the tourism market. According to the newspaper "Economic World", Turkey received more than 51 million foreign tourists in 2019, with a growth of 12 percent, earning $30 billion. Turkey hopes to attract up to 25 million foreign tourists next year, despite the corona vaccine.
In contrast, Iran's tourism market is not very prosperous despite its unique tourist attractions. One of the reasons for this lackluster state of affairs is the lack of infrastructure and facilities necessary for foreign tourists to travel to this country and the restrictions that foreign tourists, especially women, face.
According to domestic experts, the events of November and January 2019 were another heavy blow to attracting tourists to Iran.
Internal sources say that in 2018, although Iran ranked 89th among the world's tourist destinations by accepting 8 million foreign tourists, the outbreak of the coronavirus in Iran brought the country's tourism market to a complete standstill in 2020.
Source: DW
