There have been recent indications that if President-elect Trump tries to tear up or renegotiate the nuclear treaty with Iran, then tourism for Americans may suffer as a result. Obviously, this would be far from the most serious affect of such a change in policy, but since we are involved specifically in tourism to Iran aimed at Americans, this is the question for us to address.
It is true that in recent weeks the lead time for submitting documents for Americans wanting to travel to Iran has increased. We generally request that any American wanting to tour Iran submit the necessary documents at least 2-3 month in advance. The process in and of itself is not very difficult and we have described it in other blogs and other parts of our website – namely, fill out a simple form we supply online; send us a copy of your passport cover page; and submit a very brief resume or bio.
So as of now there are no particular problems for Americans wanting to tour Iran. Obviously, if you are not American the whole process is much simpler. You can get a visa almost immediately and there are fewer hoops to jump through. But if Trump does attempt to nullify the nuclear agreement negotiated by John Kerry and President Obama then it is possible that one of the ways Iran will retaliate – a minor one in the scheme of things – would be to cut down on or eliminate visas for Americans. Aside from the fact that we are in the business of sending American tourists (and others) to Iran, we think that this would be a very bad thing in and of itself. And we sincerely hope that none of this happens.
For now, there are no real impediments for Americans to travel to Iran as tourists. There does seem to be increased interest and we hope that this continues.
We truly believe that aside form the fact that Iran is one of the most interesting countries that Americans or anyone else might visit, it is also one of the safest countries in the world to visit. And, surprisingly enough, it is a country where American visitors are extremely popular.