WANA (Oct 11) – Iran aims to increase the number of Iraqi tourists visiting the country to five million annually within the next three years — a target set under a new memorandum of understanding signed between the private sectors of both countries. According to the latest figures from Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts, around 3.5 million Iraqis currently travel to Iran each year.

 

Moslem Shojaei, Director General of the Ministry’s Office for Foreign Tourism Marketing, described Iraq as “Iran’s number-one tourism market,” stressing that achieving this target is crucial for the success of Iran’s Seventh Development Plan, which envisions 15 million foreign tourist arrivals. As part of this strategy, Iran recently launched its Iraq Roadshow in the cities of Basra, Baghdad, and Karbala, with representatives from over 50 Iranian travel agencies in attendance.

 

Shojaei identified the weak connection between the private sectors of the two countries as one of the main barriers to growth. “This gap allows middlemen to dominate the market, with Iraqi travelers entering through unofficial channels,” he explained. “The roadshow helped build direct links between professionals on both sides, leading to the signing of the first private-sector cooperation agreement.”

 

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During the same trip, the Iranian tourism delegation met with Qaem Murad, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Antiquities of Iraq, to prepare for a technical committee meeting and the signing of an executive cooperation document.

 

Reaching the five-million target, however, will require major improvements in transport and infrastructure. Shojaei emphasized that, beyond the current 300 weekly flights between Iran and Iraq, more air routes should be established linking new city pairs. He also noted that the entry of Iraqi tourists by car needs to be regulated and facilitated; at present, only about 2,000 vehicles from Iraq’s Arab-majority regions cross into Iran’s Khuzestan Province.

 

On the maritime front, only one passenger line currently operates between Iran’s Khorramshahr and Iraq’s Basra ports, carrying roughly 250,000 passengers per week. Shojaei suggested expanding this route by issuing more permits, providing subsidized fuel, dredging coastal areas, and encouraging private investment to add more vessels.

 

 

At land borders, he called for shorter waiting times and more integrated services. Many Iraqi visitors, he said, struggle to find reputable hospitals in Iran due to the absence of official tourism or medical representatives at the border — a gap that fosters illegal intermediaries. Establishing information centers or telemedicine hubs in Iraq could help channel travelers through formal routes.

Other measures include expanding domestic flights from Abadan and Ahvaz to other Iranian cities, supporting Iraqi investors in the tourism sector, and inviting influential Iraqi social media figures to visit Iran. “Facebook is the main social network in Iraq,” Shojaei said. “We’ve asked them to nominate prominent influencers to attend Iran’s tourism exhibition in February.”

 

Ultimately, Shojaei described the Iraq Roadshow as a turning point in professional tourism cooperation between the two countries. While much of Iraq’s tourism market has long been controlled by middlemen, he expressed hope that this new phase of direct engagement would mark “the first serious step toward a structured and sustainable entry into Iraq’s tourism market.”

 

Still, achieving the ambitious goal of five million Iraqi tourists will depend on deeper coordination, improved infrastructure, and consistent bilateral support — a goal within reach, but only through sustained, system-wide effort.