Why Declining Outbound Tourism Can Be a Good Thing for Iran

As currency fluctuations continue to batter Iran's economy and increase travel costs, the number of Iranians visiting other countries since the onset of the crisis has fallen noticeably. This may prove to be a positive development, though.
Mohammad Khayatian, deputy for tourism affairs at Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, told ISNA that 3,092,759 Iranian tourists travelled abroad during the first five months of the current fiscal year (started March 21), down by 11% compared with the 3,474,692 in the similar period of last year.
According to the official, Iranians' top destinations were Turkey, Iraq, the UAE and Georgia.