TEHRAN – Iranians remain the largest group of religious tourists visiting Iraq, especially the holy city of Karbala.
“Iranians are the first among tourists visiting Iraq, especially during the Arbain pilgrimage, followed by tourists from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, European countries and Gulf countries,” the Irnar news agency quoted the head of a tourism organization in Karbala as saying on Saturday.
According to the Irnar news agency, the official stressed that there is more to Karbala than just religious sites, citing recreational and historical sites such as Khan al-Ashan and Khan Naqila, which he said could be developed into a broader tourist destination with the active cooperation of Iranian tourism officials.
The official mentioned medical tourism, where Iran has traditionally been the main destination for Iraqis, adding that many Iraqi medical tourists are now increasingly choosing Turkey and India over Iran due to cost concerns.
According to the Iranian News Agency, nearly 8 million Iranians visited Iraq last year for the Shiite pilgrimage, while 3.5 million Iraqis visited Iran.
For the past few years, Iran has been making efforts to balance inbound and outbound tourism with Iraq, aiming to achieve 10 million annual tourist exchanges between the two countries.
A key challenge lies in Iraqi pilgrim visits to Iran and access to medical tourism services. “Iraqis traveling to Mashhad for the shrine of Imam Reza (AS) have to pay about $100 for a one-way ticket and about $300 for a round trip, which is prohibitively expensive,” said an Iraqi official, urging Iranian authorities to regulate ticket pricing.
He also criticized the high cost of medical services in Iran for Iraqi medical tourists, noting that many pay exorbitant fees for treatment in Tehran and Mashhad. “Turkish and Indian companies are now providing much cheaper and more reasonable medical services to patients in Iraq,” he said.
He recommended the establishment of a formal Iran-Iraq health tourism company to provide affordable and regulated medical services to Iraqi visitors and prevent the flow of these tourists to competing countries.
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