Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct.7/ Trend R.Zamanov
Turkish airlines plan to bring 1,200 tourists to Iranian southern city of Shiraz in the first nine months of 2012, the managing director of Turkish Airlines office in South of Iran said on Monday.
"Turkish Airlines brought 400 tourists to Shiraz in the previous year," the ISNA News Agency quoted Mehmet Alagöz as saying.
"We plan to boost the number to 3,000 tourists in 2014," he said. "The Turkish Airlines is trying to introduce Iran's tourist attractions, especially the historic Shiraz city, to the Turkish people."
The head of the cultural heritage and tourism organization of Iran Mohammad Ali Najafi said on October 5 that Iran plans to lift visa requirements for tourists from the neighboring countries, the East Asia, and the European countries, in particular, in a bid to promote tourism in the country.
Visa requirement will be lifted for some countries and will be eased for some other countries, he added.
He referred to China as one of the main priorities in this regard, adding that Japan, Malaysia, and Indonesia are also of importance.
A look at the number of tourists visiting Iran shows that the number of tourists has increased slightly duirng the past eight years.
In 2009, some 3.27 million tourists visited Iran. In 2010, the figure hit 3.12 million.
In 2011 and 2012 the figure hit 3.2 million and 3.7 million, respectively.
Thus, attaining the goal of 20 million tourists in 2020 seems to be impossible if the current trend continues.