ICHHTO Shuts 18 Travel Agencies in Tehran

Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization has ordered the closure of 18 tourism agencies in the capital over the past five months, said Shahram Alimohammadi, head of the tourism division of ICHHTO's Tehran office.
"Tourism inspectors visited 406 agencies, four of which were ordered shut for one to three months," Alimohammadi also told IRNA on Monday.  The inspectors also identified and shuttered 21 unlicensed tourism agencies and referred their cases to the security and judicial authorities, he said.
Alimohammadi put the total number of the agencies operating in Tehran at 2,051. "In the current year, 78 new operating licenses have been issued for tourism agencies and 280 for tourist guide institutes."