September 06, 2019
Iranian media have given much coverage to a plan announced by Iran to attract 2 million Chinese tourists each year by removing the requirement for Chinese visitors to first get a visa. Only 52,000 Chinese visited last year. However, the Chinese can already get visas on entering Iran, so it isn’t much of an impediment. Iranian tourism officials didn’t say how they planned to cater to so many Chinese visitors, few of whom speak English, or to house them. Iran has an excess of hotel rooms in Mashhad, not a likely stop for the Chinese, but insufficient space at places like Persepolis. As a matter of policy, Iran has normally eliminated visa requirements only for countries that do not require a visa for Iranians. But China still requires that Iranians get visas, so Iran really wants those tourists.