Is It Safe To Travel To Iran During Coronavirus Pandemic? [Updated November 2021]
TRAVEL TO IRAN DURING PANDEMIC: IRAN TOURIST VISA TO REOPEN ONCE AGAIN
Travel and tourism industry continues to be one of the sectors crashed hardest by far because of the pandemic. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), tourist arrivals are estimated to have fallen 74% in 2020 compared to 2019, and there are high hopes for recovery and returning back to normality for 2021.
Governments Mission to Normalizing the New Normal
As vaccination programs have proceeded around the globe, opportunities will arise returning back to normality and there’s plenty to be hopeful about recovering the tourism industry.
If history can teach us anything, it is that the new diseases will continue hitting us and In fact, that turned to one of the top risks for humans and society in the past few decades. For an industry that depends exclusively on human mobility, given the widespread Pandemic, it’s no surprise that lockdowns and restrictions have taken the industry to immediate and heavy damages. Being largely discretionary in nature, tourism is also more dynamic and flowing than many other sectors, and has historically suffered more from strategic shocks.
Governments have taken special measures and actions, particularly to ease the economic complications to the local businesses, recovery solutions will differ within boundaries, and the pace and scope of recovery will of course depend on global developments but longer-term the industry will need to adapt to a post-pandemic “new normal.”
For many developing countries the effects have been severe. Before the pandemic outbreak, tourism was big business, accounting for more than 10 percent of global GDP. The share was even larger in tourism-dependent countries.
For sure, the road to recovery will not going to be simple. The industry might need to witness some structural changes in the short and medium terms (,e.g., renovating and booting airline services, incentives for promoting travel and tourism) as it moves toward the long-term stage of demand for travel and tourism returns back to the normal. Despite the short-term outlook, the long-term recovery is certain, anchored by the vitality of the sector to the global economy and its historic resilience in the face of previous pandemics.
Post-pandemic, a continuing shift toward ecotourism—a fast-growing industry focused on conservation and local businesses—could give an additional boost to the industry.
Iran Reopens Tourist Visa to Welcome Travelers from All Around the Globe
It is not necessarily a moral outrage or a proven case that the pandemic is under better control in developed countries than in developing ones. People from Wealthy countries may prefer to exclusive their destination to the concept of travel bubble regions; But what will they find there? Restrictions being held no different as in their homeland, and as a result, makes it less like a real travel experience.
Entering the new government in Iran and implementing the special anti-virus task force, Iran also followed by defeating the pandemic and lifting the restrictions to pave the way for travel recovery.
By reaching the vaccination waves to its final stages, National Headquarters for Coronavirus Control in Iran has announced the reopening of the country’s borders and also fully elimination of pandemic restrictions
By the order of Iranian President Ebrahim Raiesi, the launch for reissuance the tourist visas and lifting travel bans by reopening the land and air borders after 19 months of hiatus and suspension has announced to be in October, by the time now.
Tourism and Handicrafts Minister Ezzatollah Zarghami as intending to improve approaches and taking steps to help the damaged industry, made this announcement “Resumption of issuing tourism visas is going through the final phases of how it will be implemented in an expert committee,” wrote Zarghami in a Farsi post on his Twitter page.
Iran was a major destination in the 1970s. In fact, tourism accounted for 25% of the country’s GDP prior to the revolution.
Just before the outbreak of the pandemic, 8.7 million foreign nationals visited Iran, and as a result, country was being ranked as the second fastest-growing country in tourism based on data compiled by the World Tourism Organization.
It also appeared among the buzziest promising vacation spots in annual lists of travel and leisure magazines like NY times and World Travel Market London, indicating the fact that how Iran tour packages can best fulfill the aim of a cultural visit. The New York Times chose the title of “Tourism cautiously returns to this Middle East jewel” for its article and listed Iran as a top desiring holiday destination.
The minister said foreign travelers are expected to surge significantly after removing visa restrictions, adding that tourists had expressed significant levels of satisfaction from their trip to Iran prior to the time pandemic hit the country in February 2019.
Iran has faced higher rates of international tourists in recent years as the country keeps encouraging more investment in the sector of tourism to create job opportunities and access new income sources.
Iran is Your ultimate Post-Pandemic Destination; Here’s Why:
ran is potentially a booming destination for travelers seeking cultural attractions, breathtaking sceneries, and numerous UNESCO-registered sites. It is expected that, under the 2025 Tourism Vision Plan, Iran aims to increase the number of its tourist arrivals from 4.8M in 2014 to 20M in 2025.
Ensuring Tourist’s Safety:
An immediate priority for a country is to protect its tourists. Accessing the needed information is crucial, along with effective rescue efforts, and helping travelers return to their home countries when this becomes possible. Visa extensions will be needed for those who are unable to return to their original destination; Iran as well as New Zealand and others have put these extensions in place. In fact, during your residency in Iran various flexibilities can be imported within your visa type for extending your residency duration.
Extra Health and Hygiene Protocols:
Once borders are ready to reopen to visitors, extra safety protocols will become a must to eliminate any chance of a new outbreak. First and foremost, this means constant monitoring over the domestic and international situation is an urge to inbound so that journeys don’t pose a health risk to their destination.
Second, all touchpoints along the tourist experience need to be safeguarded, for example:
Handling the majority of visa obtaining and other visa related procedures online to reduce physical contacts and maintaining to social distancing.
Keeping track of the flights related to areas of outbreak, imposing appropriate social distancing barriers and markings, providing mandatory hand sanitizer and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the staff and travelers, and carrying out health checks or tests whenever needed; routine disinfection and over standard deep-cleaning services.
On aircraft, allocating seating in accordance with social distancing regulations; reducing or removing in-flight services; installing high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters; routine disinfection and sanitization.
Hotels and other accommodations, rules for common areas such as the lobby, restaurant, and gym to meet social distancing regulations; revised standards for food storage, handling, and catering plus ventilation and cleaning.
Great offers and Convenience in Visa Obtaining Process:
With travel confidence having taken a knock and the majority of countries trying to reignite the industry at the same time, competition to regain lost ground will be on demand. So extra incentives will likely be necessary to persuade travelers to choose a specific destination. That might include visa changes (such as relaxing visa requirements and extending the duration of permitted stays), or giving people a helping hand where they might appreciate it most—their wallet. Many Iran travel agencies like Chiyakotravel for example, plan to offer travel discount vouchers, and income tax relief for tourists. Other monetary incentives could be a reduction in visa fees or vouchers for popular airlines, hotels, restaurants, shopping outlets, and tourist attractions.
According to the latest Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Iran has been chosen as the most affordable foreign tourist destination, for the third time. This report surveys 136 countries in 14 different categories and shows how well these countries could deliver sustainable economic and social benefits through their tourism industry sector.
REQUIREMENTS FOR REQUESTING AN IRAN TOURIST VISA
It’s becoming increasingly significant to prove that a person has been vaccinated, received a negative Covid-19 test result or recovered from infection. vaccination and testing certificates often referred to as “vaccine passports”, or “health passports.” Are now provided in various ways to facilitate travel quality regulations. There are a growing number of Digital certificates and health apps which will be scanned at airports and will be checked within a national database to serve the same purpose as well. Widespread testing and negative PCR tests, still remain the key point of health checking as the vaccination rates and processes differ within the borders.
The primary document is the evidence of receiving two dozen of Corona virus vaccine or a negative PCR test that must have been taken up to 96 hours before their flight. Photo of traveler’s passport, a travel health insurance Document of proof of residency during the stay in Iran.
Conclusion
While COVID-19 has undoubtedly shaped our lives, and by particular our travel habits—beyond all recognition, the current crisis state will be temporary. Even while the restrictions and limitations such as travel bans are going on, countries and their governing administrations are moving forward by planning what must be done to reboot economies and return society to some levels of normality.
Tourism is not only a key building block of economics; thus, it is something that enables us to understand other regions and cultures and is a source of constant self-improvement, creativity and decreasing negative thoughts and emotions.
Although the straightaway impact to the industry has been negative, we don’t see radical structural changes being needed unless it falls prey to further unforeseeable shocks in quick succession. What we expect is that with a staged approach and smart management, governments will be able to push through their tourism sectors into recovery and that they will eventually rebound. We look forward to playing our part in making it happen.