Iran's tourism loses 330 mln USD amid COVID-19 outbreak

Source: Xinhua | 2020-05-01

The COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent restrictions on travels in Iran have inflicted losses of 330 million U.S. dollars on the tourism industry, the president of Iranian Hoteliers Association said.

This figure refers to the two-month period ending on April 19, Jamshid Hamzezadeh was quoted as saying by Financial Tribune daily on Thursday.

About 240,000 people are directly and 550,000 indirectly employed in the tourism industry, according to Hamzezadeh.

He urged the government to exempt the businesses in tourism sector, including hotels, travel agencies and accommodation centers, from paying taxes, as they were totally shut down in the two-month period over the virus concerns.

The deadly disease has inflicted losses of 187 million dollars on hotels alone, Hamzezadeh noted.

The Iranian government has announced that it will bail out coronavirus-hit businesses and low-income households by offering loans totalling 4.8 billion dollars with a 12-percent interest rate.

Besides, the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Ministry has put forward a rescue package for tourism businesses.

Iran has recorded one of the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and death toll in the Middle East region, after its first cases were announced on Feb. 19.