TEHRAN - Iran’s deputy tourism minister Vali Teymouri has said the number of Turkish arrivals in Iran has increased by 35 percent over the past year.

The growth helps to near a balance of visitor exchange from the two neighbors, Teymouri said without giving further details.

Talking to Turkish culture and tourism attaché in Tehran, the official pointed out that there is a need for increased interaction and commuting between the relevant government officials in order to enhance tourism relations between the two countries, in addition to the more private sector relations between the two countries, Fars reported on Monday.

He added that the joint tourism meeting scheduled to be held by the private and public sectors of the two sides before the end of this year may provide the necessary platform for enhancing the intended communications.

The meeting is aimed at providing a chance for the two sides to discuss the status of tourism exchanges between the two countries as well as explore ways to strengthen bilateral ties.

The Turkish cultural attaché, for his part, expressed the readiness of his country to participate in the Tehran International Tourism Fair which is slated be held in the Iranian capital in February next year.

Some 1.37 million Iranian tourists visited Turkey during the first eight months of 2019, accounting for 4.4% of all international arrivals in the country. In fact, Iran was Turkey’s fifth-biggest source of tourism from January to August, according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute.

AFM/MG