Corona Has Caused 12 Trillion Tomans in Damage to Iran’s Tourism Sector So Far

An Iranian tourism official has stated that the damage to the country’s tourism sector due to the coronavirus outbreak has reached 12 trillion tomans, which is the second estimate and will certainly be higher in the next assessment.

Vali Timoori, Deputy Minister of Tourism at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, said the damage mentioned in the first estimate was 3.3 trillion tomans.

According to Misan News Agency, he added that in the most optimistic scenario, tourism sub-sectors are currently operating with “one-third” of their workforce.

Mr. Timoori stated the number of people employed in the travel and tourism sector, based on statistics from the World Travel & Tourism Council in 2019, as more than “1 million and 350 thousand people”.

This Iranian tourism official evaluated the reception of activists in this field to facility loans with a 12 percent interest rate as “minimal,” but said that 250 billion tomans in loans have been paid to them so far.

With the outbreak of coronavirus in Iran, domestic travel and hotel stays have been severely reduced, and the entry of foreign tourists into the country has also dropped to a minimum.

Source: Radio Farda