200% increase in Nowruz passengers and officials who were surprised again

After two years of coronavirus restrictions and travel bans, many people in Iran traveled to make up for two years of staying home during Nowruz 1401. But the authorities were once again caught off guard and were unable to cope with the flood of Nowruz travelers.

The lack of necessary infrastructure to accommodate the large number of travelers, which has increased by up to 200 percent in some cities compared to previous years, arbitrary price increases, and restrictions on roads and paths have caused numerous problems for Nowruz travelers.

The CEO of the Ports and Maritime Organization told IRNA: "550,000 passengers have traveled through Hormozgan province's maritime passenger terminals in the first five days of the plan to facilitate sea travel in Nowruz 1401, which is an increase of 186 percent compared to the same period in 2019 and before the start of the coronavirus."

The director of the Shahid Darvishi Port of Hormuz also told IRNA: "The provincial ports and maritime complex has made all the necessary predictions, but matters that are beyond the control of this complex have upset the equations."

He also pointed to the "new and strange phenomenon of exploding prices for services provided by residents," and said: "The fourfold increase in the price of food served in local homes or the fivefold increase in the price of island tours has also affected the work of the vessels."

One of the passengers confirmed this in an interview with IRNA, saying that although he was at the port with his family at 6 am to go to Hormuz Island, upon arrival he was faced with prices that were several times higher than the expected and announced price, and he left without touring the island.

For example, the price of a three-wheeled motorbike tour on the island, based on information this traveler had collected before the trip, was between 250,000 and 350,000 Tomans for two hours, but when they arrive there, they are faced with a price of one to one and a half million Tomans.

The director of the Hormuz Port confirmed this and said: "Based on the experience of previous years, we knew the peak hours of passengers entering and leaving the island and planned accordingly, but the high price of services has caused passengers to intend to return as soon as they arrive and learn about the island's situation, instead of staying for the usual 12 hours, which has disrupted previous plans."

Capacity is full!

The Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts also confirms that the capacity of official accommodation centers in major tourist and pilgrimage cities has been completed on the third day of the Nowruz holidays.

Ezatollah Zarghami told ISNA news agency: "Major pilgrimage and tourism cities are facing accommodation problems."

According to the Minister of Cultural Heritage, in heavily traveled provinces such as Fars, Bushehr, Hormozgan, Yazd, Isfahan, and northern cities, the capacity of official residences has been completed, and emergency places such as schools, Hussainiyyahs, and sports halls are being used to accommodate Nowruz travelers.

Do not travel to Türkiye and Armenia!

But the situation is no better for travelers who can afford to travel to neighboring countries.

The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Armenia announced in a statement on April 1: "Transit and navigation via the land route from Iran to Armenia, especially within the Syunik province, has been disrupted, and Armenian authorities have been forced to take measures to provide relief and temporary accommodation to those stranded. Also, given the forecast of continued snowfall in Armenia, extreme cold weather, and the unpredictability of road conditions in the coming days, our dear compatriots are strongly advised to refrain from using our country's land route to Armenia until the road situation is clarified and the current disruption is resolved."

The Director General of the International Transit and Transportation Office of the Road Administration Organization also said: "The land borders with Turkey are also affected by the wave of rain and snowfall in the past few days. Although the road has been cleared of snow, traffic is somewhat slow, and the temperature in that border area is about 10 degrees below zero, making conditions very difficult for women and children."

In particular, travelers traveling by car to the border city of Van in Turkey have been warned to bring warm clothing and make sure their car's heating system is working properly.

Forty people die in road accidents every day

Meanwhile, the situation of road accidents has also been reported to be worse than in previous years.

In an interview with ISNA, the deputy head of the traffic police announced that 322 people have died in traffic accidents since March 16, which means more than forty people per day.

According to him, "failure to pay attention to the road ahead, exceeding the speed limit, and inability to control vehicles" were the most common causes of traffic accidents during this period.

He also said that traffic on Iranian roads has increased by 41 percent during this period.

Source: DW