Organization of Afghan tourists / from consolidation of achievements to the development of pilgrimage and entertainment markets

The pathology meeting and the review of solutions to improve the process of organizing incoming tourists from Afghanistan and Pakistan, with the presence of representatives of the executive, security and supervisory agencies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the private sector and the vice-president of tourism, was held on 22 October.

According to the reporter of Arya Heritage, the process of organizing incoming tourists from Afghanistan has been formed with the initiative and leadership of the Vice-President of Tourism and the cooperation of related institutions, with the aim of preventing the sedimentation of tourists, improving the arrival management and designing new tourism products, including recreational and pilgrimage trips in addition to health tourism. A project whose expansion to the Pakistani market is also on the agenda.

In the pathology meeting of this process, which was held with the presence of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Afghanistan online, the Ministry of Information, the Police Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Ministry of Interior, the coordinating body, selected representatives of the private sector, and the deputy of tourism, the existing issues and obstacles, implementation challenges and cases of inconsistency between the involved institutions were discussed and investigated.

In this meeting, the director general of the foreign tourism marketing and development office, while appreciating the cooperation of the responsible agencies and private sector activists, emphasized the need to strengthen inter-agency interactions and continue the exchange of accurate and documented information. Based on this, it was decided that the coordinating body should submit continuous and weekly reports on the implementation process of the plan and the status of tourists to the Vice-Chancellor of Tourism in order to provide the possibility of more accurate monitoring of performance and making corrective decisions.

Facilitating the issuance of visas according to the duration of the trip

Based on the decisions made in this meeting, it was decided to issue tourist and pilgrimage visas for Afghan nationals with a maximum validity of 30 days and, if necessary, for a shorter period of time and according to the duration of the tour. This decision was made with the aim of adapting the length of stay to the travel plan and strengthening the supervision of the implementation of the organizing process.

It was also decided that after the evaluation and monitoring of the performance of the participating agencies by the Ministry of Information, the Police Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Vice-President of Tourism, the quota of the offices that had a good performance and an acceptable history in the implementation of this process will be increased according to the results of the evaluation.

The Director General of the Office of Marketing and Development of Foreign Tourism, emphasizing the necessity of a national approach to this project and prioritizing the interests of the country, stated that the development of the organizing process should be followed in such a way that if the correct management of the trips and preventing the deposition of tourists is ensured, it will be possible for more offices to benefit from the created capacity and unnecessary obstacles will be removed in the way of the coordinated implementation of the project.

Development of cooperation for the arrival of Pakistani tourists

In the continuation of this meeting, the development of the process of organizing incoming tourists from Pakistan was also emphasized and it was decided to take the necessary measures to advance this issue with the cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Also, the attendees emphasized the necessity of forming effective, continuous and online coordination between policy-making, supervisory and executive bodies; A coordination that can help to maintain the achievements of the plan, increase the trust between the private sector and the responsible institutions, and provide the basis for the development of the country's tourism target markets.

Recording the desired performance in the first two months of the project implementation

Reviewing the performance of 30 participating offices for two months and not reporting a single case of tourist deposition during this period was considered one of the important achievements of the organizing process; A result that highlights the necessity of continuous monitoring, strengthening of supervisory mechanisms and providing the context for the participation of more qualified offices.

In this regard, the second stage of the process has been started with the aim of identifying eligible offices and increasing the number of participating offices; An action that can expand the implementation capacity of the project, provide the basis for more effective use of the tourism markets of Afghanistan and Pakistan and the development of various pilgrimage, recreational and health-oriented products.