TEHRAN, Iran, July 28
Trend:
Iran's tourism is struggling to survive in the times of the coronavirus, Head of Tourism Commission of Iran Chamber of Commerce Ali Akbar Abdolmaleki said in an interview with Trend.
"The Tourism Commission is one of the 18 commissions in Iran's Chamber of Commerce that is trying to solve the obstacles of tourism and handicrafts industries," he said.
"The Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft Organization would decide when things could go back to previous state, however in terms of private sector, tourism industry is in trouble," Abdolmaleki added.
"Many travel agencies have been shut down while many hotels are empty or been put for sale for cheap," he said.
"Handicrafts are on sale with low price tags, just to provide for daily needs. This is a bad situation," he added.
Abdolmaleki pointed out that the situation with the world tourism isn't any better, as even the re-opening of the borders isn't helping much, due to health protocols.
"So, the foreign travels are rare these days," Abdolmaleki said.
"Although the domestic tourism in Iran is alive, and we can implement all health protocols and re-open hotels , entertainment venues and religious sights," he added.
"The UNWTO has predicted that tourism would return to normal by the end of 2023, that means it would take three years for tourism industry to recover. In case if there is a coronavirus vaccine, it would cost a lot at first, and hopefully it would be reduced enough for ordinary people to use it too. This eventually would help improve the situation in the tourism sector," Abdolmaleki said.
The Islamic Republic of Iran only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19.
The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.