MNA � The head of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization of Razavi Khorasan province said the relationship between Iran and Tatarstan will develop and boom mutual tourism industry to a great extent.


Abolfazl Mokaramifar made the above remark in a meeting with Sergey Ivanov Chairman of the State Committee on Tourism of the Republic of Tatarstan and said, �the bilateral meeting will pave the way for booming and expanding tourism industry between the two countries of Iran and Tatarstan.�

If a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is inked between Iran and Tatarstan, Kazan city in Russia�s Tatarstan State can be considered as third destination of Iranian tourists in this country after Moscow and St. Petersburg, he maintained.

Razavi Khorasan province is the pilgrimage tourism hub in Iran, he said, adding, �the world is home to 1.6 billion Muslims, 400 million of them are Shiite and are interested in travelling to Khorasan Razavi province.�

Razavi Khorasan province is famous in the field of pilgrimage tourism in a way that the first relics of civilization was found in Kashfrud of Mashhad, Mokaramifar opined.

Iran is home to 1.1 million historical monuments, 50,000 of which are located in Khorasan Razavi Province, he said, reiterated, �of total 1.1 million historical monuments in the country, 1,600 of which have been listed in National Heritage List.�

Mokaramifar added, �we are very interested in broadening our relationship with Kazan city of Tatarstan in the best form possible.�

For his part, Sergey Ivanov Chairman of the State Committee on Tourism of the Republic of Tatarstan said, �I am very glad to visit shrine city of Mashhad.�

Establishing amicable relationship with Khorasan Razavi is very important for Tatarstan, he said, adding, �in their trip to Kazan city of Tatarstan, the visiting delegation from Khorasan Razavi welcomed this amicable and peaceful relationship excellently.�

Organizing Iran�s exclusive tourism exhibition in Kazan concurrent with Russia 2018 World Cup, readiness of universities and higher education centers to cooperate in organizing short-term courses in the fields of tourism, hotel management and ecotourism, invitation of Sergey Ivanov Chairman of the State Committee on Tourism of the Republic of Tatarstan and private sector investors of Tatarstan to attend Mashhad Tourism Exhibition are of the salient suggestions which were discussed in this bilateral meeting.