Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct.5/ Trend F.Karimov/
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, the Fars News Agency quoted head of the cultural heritage and tourism organization Mohammad Ali Najafi as saying.
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.
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