Package holiday, as the most ideal form of tourism, is desperately missing in the northern province of Mazandaran which is a top destination for domestic travelers.
Based on official figures, Mazandaran hosts over 50 million tourists annually, over 70% of whom travel without prior planning, IRNA reported.
The majority of numerous tourists to the south Caspian province choose to travel by their personal car and stay either in their own or a friend's villa or in any place they can find on arrival, be it a camp in a park or on the beach.
This can be described as "haphazard tourism" that fails to produce the desired outcome that is expected of the industry.
What is missing is a package in which transport, accommodation and other services have already been arranged by a travel agent.
Zeinab Aqadadashi, a tourism expert, takes travel agencies to task for their failure to introduce package tours.
"Although package tour operation is becoming more common in many parts of the country, travel agents have been unable to exploit the great potential of Mazandaran," she said.
He regretted that no organization has yet taken a step toward including all traveler needs into one service package to prevent the possible harms of unplanned tourism.
Passing the Buck
Travel agents, on the other hand, shift the blame to tourism officials.
Mehdi Hosseinpour, director of a travel agency, told IRNA that the tourism authorities assess the industry by quantity and take great delight in touting data on the huge number of travelers.
"The common style of tourism in Mazandaran only leads to traffic on roads and streets, pollution, waste of time, annoyance of travelers and residents, empty hotel rooms and urban spaces filled with campers," he said, lamenting that there is no will to change the trend.
"It is essential that relevant officials coordinate all related industries, from hotels to tour operators and tourist sites through a comprehensive scheme to pave the way for the launch of inclusive package tours," he said, proposing that authorities adopt the model of other provinces and even other countries to achieve the goal.
The provincial head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, Mehran Hassani, acknowledged that a lack of cooperation between hotels and tour operators is among the causes that Mazandaran's tourism has remained deprived of pre-organized holidays.
"Besides, the beauty of roads toward the north encourages the public to opt for driving through the Alborz ranges to enjoy the fantastic scenery," he said.
According to Hassani, there are no plans to address this problem yet. "We could start by travel agencies," he said.
Apparently, the officials are only in the stage of identifying the reasons for the absence of package tours.
Harms of Unplanned Trips
Unplanned travel with a personal car has negative impacts both on tourism and its related industries such as transportation and hotel management.
Common heavy congestions on northbound roads that at times last for hours are among the most tangible unpleasant consequences.
It is also due to this trend that Mazandaran is only known for its forests and beaches and other natural, historical and cultural attractions have remained unknown.
Aqadadashi pointed to the damage to the air, rail and sea transport systems as more and more people choose to use their private vehicles.
She explained that when road travel is overwhelmingly preferred, the costs of road construction and maintenance will rise, untouched natural areas will have to be destroyed to make way for asphalt routes, and rail, air and sea transport will lie idle.
"Mazandaran has three airports at the moment but with few flights only to limited destinations. The railroad which is a unique tourism route is operating at minimum capacity and the marine transport has not even been thought of although the province covers the largest coastal area of the Caspian Sea," she said.
