The Iranian Hoteliers Association is reviewing its pricing policy to allow hotels to offer a double-currency payment system, a move aimed at mitigating the fallout from a volatile currency market.
It is customary for hotels in Iran to only charge in the local currency rial, which has suffered a sharp depreciation in recent months.
"In view of the fluctuations in the value of the rial and the problems it has posed to foreign tourists regarding the hotel room prices, we are considering a double-currency system," the director of the association, Jamshid Hamzehzadeh, told Mehr News Agency on Saturday.
"We are seeking to also offer hotel rates in foreign money, so the fees could be payable in two currencies, like elsewhere in the world. Hotels in other countries charge in two currencies. You can find no country where hotel room bookings are accepted only in the local currency."
Hamzehzadeh noted that experts are being consulted to ensure the new pricing policy would be to the liking of foreign visitors.
Forex Fluctuations
In response to a sudden hike in exchange rates in early April, which saw the rial trading at 62,000 to the dollar, the government decided to enforce a single rate of 42,000 rials and ban any trading beyond that rate. It was followed by several other restrictive measures. However, the government's intervention has failed to restore stability to the turbulent market and clamp down on an unofficial market where the dollar is now traded at around 10,000 rials.
"We are troubled by the currency crisis… If we charge at the unofficial rate, it will be an act of smuggling… We cannot charge the hotel guests at a rate several times higher than the official rate… The double currency policy will help clarify the payment system and could prove mutually beneficial for hotel owners and visitors," Hamzehzadeh noted.
