Governor of Astrakhan Igor Babushkin and 18th other people on 15 motorcycles entered Khorasan Razavi province via the Bajgiran border crossing on Thursday, ISNA reported.

Named “Caspian Sea - the Sea of Friendship”, the rally is aimed at helping strengthen the relations between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Russia, the report said.

The motorcyclists started their excursion from Astrakhan, and they have been scheduled to leave Iran via Gilan’s Astara crossing point on Saturday.

Earlier this year, Mehr reported that Russian tourists were increasingly choosing Iran as a vacation destination. There has been a surge of Russian tourists in Iran as a result of international sanctions against Russia, the news agency said.

Iran, however, has not been a top destination for Russians for decades. The Head of the Iranian Tour Operators Association Ebrahim Pourfaraj believes the majority of potential Russian travelers are unaware of the vast tourist attractions that exist in every corner of Iran. “The fact is that Iran’s political and economic relations with Russia are considered good, but this has nothing to do with attracting tourists because it is directly connected with the Russian people. It is the Russian people who must choose Iran as their destination.”

Mostafa Sarvari, who presided over the tourism marketing and advertising office of the Iranian Tour Operators Association, has said: “Many [potential] Russian travelers are motivated to visit novel and lesser-known destinations such as Iran that could be a safe and attractive destination.”

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 26 are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.