Tehran, Iran, Jan. 15
By Kamyar Eghbal – Trend:
Air pollution, fears over earthquake and New Year holidays have contributed to a dramatic fall in the number of admissions in hotels in Iran's capital Tehran over the last month.
“About 80 percent of the capacity of hotels in Tehran was empty in December,” Mohammad Ali Farrokh-Mehr, the head of hotels and hotel apartments union in Tehran Province, told Trend.
An earthquake of magnitude 5.2 struck a town near the Iranian capital Tehran on Dec. 21.
Heavy air pollution shrouded capital Tehran’s sky over the last month, shutting down schools at the megacity for a couple of days. The air quality index of Tehran in this period hit 178, far beyond the acceptable threshold of 50.
Ali Farrokh-Mehr described the drop in the number of admissions as “catastrophic”, adding that hotels do not have a good financial situation due to the downturn in the hotel industry in recent months.
He further called on the government to provide the hotel sector with financial aid.
The official also touched upon the quality of service in Iranian hotels, saying that the industry needs to improve the training of its staff.
“The hotels of Iran, in comparison to hotels in many countries of the world, have good qualities and they are in good condition in terms of space and area. Their main problem is shortage of professional and trained personnel.”
Back in December 2017, the Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Department said that about 160 hotels were being built in Iran.