MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/. The mutual tourist flow between Russia and Iran as part of a group visa-free exchange can reach about 40,000 tourists in 2024, Nikita Kondratyev, head of the department of multilateral economic cooperation and special projects at the Economic Development Ministry said.

"We expect that by the end of 2024, the mutual tourist flow with Iran as part of the group visa-free mechanism will be about 40,000 tourists," Kondratyev said, as quoted by the ministry’s press service.

He noted that since the beginning of this year, Russian and Iranian tour operators have begun introducing joint tourism products to organize visa-free tourist trips between the two countries. Tourists from Iran are mainly interested in trips to Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The Economic Development Ministry recalled that the first tourist groups of 86 people arrived in Moscow on March 18. Two more groups are scheduled to arrive this week (more than 130 people in total). The first tourists from Iran will be offered a route with excursions to the main attractions of Moscow. Guests are going to visit Red Square, the Kremlin, Zaryadye Park, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and many other historical and cultural attractions of Moscow.

Natalya Molochkova, head of the department for interaction with foreign authorities of the ANO (autonomous non-commercial organization) Project Office for the Development of Tourism and Hospitality in Moscow, stressed that the flow of tourists from Iran to Moscow last year exceeded the figures not only for 2022, but also for the pre-pandemic 2019.