Hotels Willing to Lower Rates

Hoteliers are willing to cooperate with public officials and travel agencies to make traveling more affordable, the head of the Association of Tehran Hotels and Hotel Apartments said.

In a statement on the official website of the association, Mohammad Ali Farrokhmehr said hoteliers are ready to reduce the costs of traveling and “set up a committee … to oversee the measures and prevent fraud”,

Farrokhmehr suggested the committee be made up of representatives from the Iranian Hoteliers Society, Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, and Tazirat Organization—a judiciary-affiliated entity that monitors trading crimes based on Islamic judicial law, Hoteljar reported.

“The committee would ensure tour packages are offered at appropriate prices that benefit all parties (tourists, travel agencies and hotels),” Farrokhmehr said.

Talks about lowering travel costs have become more prominent in the past few weeks with tourism officials, travel agents and even lawmakers calling for measures to help make traveling affordable.

Iranian hotel owners have been complaining about low occupancy rates for years, blaming their weakening popularity among domestic travelers on vacation rentals, which they say is driving their business to the curb.

“The maximum occupancy rate throughout the year in Tehran hotels is 60%, with the exception of the period (usually in May) when major conventions are held,” he said.

Iranian travelers constitute 90% of hotels’ occupancy rates.

According to Jamshid Hamzehzadeh, president of the hoteliers’ society, occupancy rates in most Iranian hotels have seen a 10% decline since the beginning of the current Iranian year (started March 20, 2016) compared with the same period of the previous year.