Iranian hotels ready to welcome foreign tourists

TEHRAN –Iranian hotels are ready to receive foreign tourists as the issuance of tourist visas and the flow of foreign tourists from land and air borders will be resumed this month.

Ninety percent of the hotel staff have been vaccinated against the coronavirus so far, so the hotels are ready to welcome foreign tourists, observing strict health protocols, the head of the Association of Iranian Hoteliers has announced.

To ease the travel process, individual foreign tourists could confirm the reservations of accommodation centers at the border, CHTN quoted Jamshid Hamzehzadeh as saying on Monday.

The destinations of foreign tourists in Iran are to specific cities such as Mashhad, Qom, Tabriz, Shiraz, Yazd, and Isfahan, and to return to the figure of over eight million incoming tourists before the outbreak of the coronavirus, serious planning is required, the official added.

Iraqi tourists will flood the country once the borders open, but attracting tourists from Europe will require some time, he noted.

Foreign advertising in foreign media and press, on the internet, and through well-known international bloggers should also be planned and taken seriously, he mentioned.

Earlier this month, the official noted that Iranian hotels have lost 202 trillion rials (some $4.8 billion at the official exchange rate of 42,000 rials per dollar) of potential revenues due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two-thirds of the hotel staff have lost their jobs as well, he added.

Back in September, Hamzehzadeh announced that all employees of accommodation centers across Iran are scheduled to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

“To vaccinate staffs of all accommodation centers, including eco-lodges, apartment hotels, and guest houses, as well as hotels, more coordination with the Ministry of Health is needed,” he added.