Which tsunami are you talking about?
The chairman of the board of directors of the Tehran Travel Agencies Association says: What travel tsunami are they talking about? Travel abroad, which is limited to a certain group, while in-country, group tours and travel are not very welcome. Does a travel tsunami mean people traveling by private car and staying in a rented house or an acquaintance’s house?
A tsunami is a natural disaster that has a negative impact on its meaning and content. However, it has been in the literature of the country’s travel and tourism authorities for several years, not in terms of showing the damage caused by unplanned and unmanaged travel, but in that they promise the movement of a large number of travelers. Spontaneous populations are likened to large tsunami waves, the population that is supposed to drive the economy.
According to ISNA, the country’s tourism authorities expect that after two years of suppression of travel demand and traffic restrictions, now that vaccination has reached a reasonable percentage, a large number of people will travel during the Nowruz holiday. Meanwhile, travel decision-makers themselves are warning other agencies to mobilize facilities to respond to the anticipated volume of travel or tsunami that is set to occur. But tourism activists and tour operators have other opinions, many of whom do not see these trips as revenue-generating, wealth-distributing, and economic and unemployment-saving, as pre-Corona statistics, which did not yet make a living today, indicate that more than 70 Percentage of the passenger population resides in the homes of acquaintances and relatives. While 40 percent of the country’s population can not travel, and with existing wages, 30 percent of government employees never travel.
The recently published analytical report of the Parliamentary Research Center also examines the available statistical data between 2008 and 2009 and confirms that during this period, the distribution of travel among households did not occur fairly and this welfare gap has caused households to Think more about reducing travel costs.
These studies show that increasing economic pressures and the lack of available and high-quality transportation infrastructure have also increased the tendency of domestic tourists to unplanned and car-based trips. Also, the desire of households to reduce travel expenses, and in particular, accommodation expenses on the one hand, and on the other hand, free travel planning without being bound to a tourist tour in the current situation, has not played a role. Using the house of relatives and friends to reduce the cost of accommodation, using a personal car to reduce the cost of transportation, not using tours to reduce travel costs, is a consequence of reducing the quality of domestic tourism, which is due to the economic situation of households.
In addition to statistics and research, market level assessments also show that economic strength in the corona years does not, as expected, allow travel to be fairly distributed among households and cost more to travel.
Amirpooyan Rafiei Shad, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Air Travel, Tourism and Pilgrimage Offices in Tehran Province, which has the highest concentration of travel services and passenger departments in the country, according to the expectations for the tsunami, especially during the Nowruz holiday. In an interview with ISNA, he first examined the situation of Iranians’ foreign trips and stated: Registration for foreign tours is very limited. Only certain segments of society can afford to travel abroad. Foreign travel is not very popular, the main reason being the increase in the exchange rate, the devaluation of the national currency and, consequently, the increase in the cost of services.
Noting that travel is directly related to the economy, he added: “There is no travel requirement in Iran.” Corona has also fueled this trend. On the other hand, the increase in rates and the identification of new Corona routes have made the conditions for travel unpredictable.
Rafi’ishad narrated his assessment of travel during the Nowruz holiday in response to warnings and repeated hints from officials about the travel tsunami, after two years of suppressing demands and restrictions: Certainly people who have been under Corona restrictions for two years welcome travel, but The economic situation of the people must also be taken into account. Our question is, are the trips that are going to be made during the Nowruz holiday and they are happy with its volume, the same as traveling by private car and staying in relatives’ houses or private villas and rentals, or smart and managed trips?
He added: “Our assessments of the travel market show that travel with agencies and tours is still not welcome, while I believe that Corona protocols can be better followed because of the use of supervised and controlled accommodation centers on these trips.” .
The chairman of the board of directors of the Air Travel, Tourism and Pilgrimage Offices Association of Tehran Province said about the cost of travel, which according to some experts, has removed travel, especially with the tour, from the basket of most households. When ticket, hotel, bus and food fares are high, it is natural that travel costs go up, so the agency can not make more profit, even if it wants to. Although the owners of accommodation centers and hotels are in a similar situation to the agents, what can the hotelier do when the prices of meat, poultry, other food items, detergents, wages and insurance have risen? When the tax office sees the cost, it thinks that the profit of the tourist facility has increased, so it raises the tax. This chain increases the cost of travel. Just as agencies do not make much profit from travel tours, accommodation units only spend time on these costs, especially since we have all been losing money for about two years now.
The tourism activist said: “It must be treated differently, the tourism facilities have spent two harmful years, something must be done to get out of this emergency situation.” We do not expect the government to pay, که it is possible that even when they provided the coronation compensation facility, many just went into debt and went into heavy debt. Other measures should be considered, tax exemptions, insurance and energy carriers should not be applied for a while. These are in the hands of the government and can easily help improve the tourism situation by eliminating their periods.
Rafieyshad said: “Everywhere there is talk of tourism, in the sense that its income can replace oil, cover the leisure time of Iranian society, reduce the growth rate of unemployment, wealth distribution and income distribution in the country.” In all governments and in all elections, the slogans of tourism and support for high-yield enterprises are chanted, and they speak of employment and income generation and increase of gross domestic and national production, yet they do not pay attention to the content and professions they play and still do. They throw stones at its feet.