Mashhad Hotels Still Struggling

The average hotel occupancy rate in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi Province, reached 70% during the two-day Eid al-Fitr holidays last week, the head of the provincial Hoteliers’ Association said.

In spite of predictions by officials, the city’s hotel rooms were not fully booked, although the Eid al-Fitr holidays (celebrated worldwide at the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan) offered the best travel opportunity in the current summer, Tasnim News Agency also quoted Mohammad Qanei as saying.

According to figures released on Tuesday, the booking rate peaked by 70% and gradually declined to 50% on Friday.

“This is not very good news for those active in Mashhad’s hotel business,” he said.

Hotel bookings in Mashhad, home to the shrine of Imam Reza (PBUH), have declined considerably over the past 18 months as inbound tourism from the Middle East has plummeted.

The January 2016 attacks on the Saudi Embassy and Consulate in Tehran and Mashhad by protesters infuriated by Riyadh’s execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr without due process led to the complete severance of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Tourism officials say Iran lost around 700,000 Shia pilgrims from the region. Prior to the attacks, Iran received an average of 1.5 million tourists and pilgrims every year from the Persian Gulf littoral countries.