We are not in charge of the “fake travelers” test

The chairman of the board of directors of the Iranian Travel Services Association, while announcing the increase in the volume of flight tickets issued on foreign routes, says: “The misuse of travel currency has nothing to do with providing travel tickets to agencies. They are not responsible for verifying unrealistic travelers.”

According to ISNA, the country’s foreign exchange policy changed after the national card rental market for buying travel currency became hot; The Central Bank issued a circular in early December 1400. In addition to the national card, the buyer of travel currency must have a valid SIM card in the name of the applicant, original and copy of documents such as flight tickets, visas, passports and exit fees to be able to use the annual currency quota of about 2200 Dollars, use.

Despite this austerity, there were claims of “fake travelers” in the currency queue. Based on their observations, some exchanges reported an increase in the desire to buy travel currency. There have also been reports that some travel agencies issue face-to-face tickets in exchange for money, which are valid until the purchase of travel currency, and then cancel it.

Ahmad Lavasani, the chairman of the Supreme Council of the Money Changers Association, however, has removed the responsibility of identifying fake travelers in the currency queue from the exchange offices and said: Exchange offices do not have access to any system to verify ticket registration in the name of currency applicants They are banknotes and do not have the task of identifying currency applicants, and this is beyond their inherent ability.

Some economists also argue that the central bank’s policy should be to provide foreign exchange only to real applicants in the form of banknotes or remittances, in order to minimize false excitement in this tense market, in addition to reducing the turmoil in the foreign exchange market.

However, in an interview with ISNA, Harmatullah Rafiei, chairman of the board of directors of the Iranian Association of Air Travel and Tourism Services, which confirms the increase in the volume of airline tickets issued on foreign routes, said that ‌ Flight ticket is prepared and then canceled, does not hold travel agencies responsible.

He states: ‌ The Central Bank gave travel currency to the people for about 20 months without a ticket and only with a national card, and the queue in front of the exchange offices became longer every day and the market of brokers was hot, but at that time no one was responsible for forming this queue. Now that they have only increased the number of documents without a principled solution and have not been able to shorten that queue, they have pointed the finger of blame at travel agencies.

Rafiei reminds: the duty of travel services offices is to issue tickets, if the passenger cancels and cancels his ticket, the agency is not allowed to intervene. The control and diagnosis of a formal passenger is not with the travel agency. If the unresolved currency problem is for the central bank to find a solution and be accountable, not a travel agency that has been idle for nearly two years. For 20 months, the Central Bank sold currency to the people only with a national card. At that time, the border was closed, tourist visas were not issued, and foreign travel was stopped. Have added and are looking for a new culprit.

The chairman of the board of directors of the Iranian Travel Services Association does not provide statistics on the growth of ticket sales or ticket cancellation, but says: During the same period, ticket sales on foreign routes have increased compared to previous months, but many factors have been involved in this growth, including They are more open borders, re-establishing trips and making some destinations more attractive in terms of cost. At the same time, canceling a flight ticket does not benefit travel agencies, as the profits go directly into the pockets of the airlines and remain only a disgrace to the agency, otherwise issuing and canceling the ticket is the responsibility of the travel agency.