TEHRAN – Iranian tour operators have welcomed new guidelines requiring foreign visitors to travel with visas and licensed guides, saying the move will support the tourism industry and local communities.

Mostafa Shafiei-Shakib, head of the Iranian Tour Operators Association, told Mehr news agency that authorities recently informed travel agencies that foreign tourists must enter Iran as part of an organized tour and be accompanied by a tour guide.

A couple of weeks after the 12-day Israeli-imposed war on Iran, the Islamic republic required foreign tourists to enter only through organized tours booked with registered agencies. The change reportedly bans independent travel, requiring tourists to submit additional documentation, including a detailed resume, tour operator contract, and confirmed hotel bookings.

Earlier, Seyyed Reza Salehi-Amiri, the minister of cultural heritage and tourism, had said no official restrictions on foreign tourists’ entry had been imposed and no such directive had been sent to the ministry.

“This is a good step because it prevents people from entering without visas or travel plans,” Shafiei-Shakib said. “In the past, such travelers moved from city to city with tiniest expenditure, stayed in [mainly] private homes, and did not generate income for agencies or local communities. Some of them also created security problems.”

Shafiei-Shakib said under the new rules, tourists will need to coordinate their trip through an agency, which will also may be responsible for their visa arrangements. “A tourist can obtain a hotel booking from one agency and a visa from another,” he said, adding that the system would ensure revenue for licensed operators.

He noted that in previous years, many individual guides or tourism workers would organize foreign arrivals independently, without oversight. “Now, unplanned travel is eliminated and foreign trips will be organized,” he said. “If implemented properly, it will benefit everyone in the long run.”

According to Salehi-Amiri, Iran generated about $7.4 billion from foreign tourism in the past Iranian calendar year (ended in March 2025), with more than 7 million international visitors arriving in the country. “Each foreign tourist spent on average between $1,000 and $3,000 during their stay in the Islamic Republic.”

The Islamic Republic expects to reap a bonanza from its numerous tourist spots such as bazaars, museums, mosques, bridges, bathhouses, madrasas, mausoleums, churches, towers, and mansions, of which 28 are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

AM