1.3m overnight stays registered across Iran within week

Iranians made some 1.3 million overnight stays in the official accommodation centers across the country during the first week of the Persian New Year (Noruz) holidays, which started on March 20, the deputy tourism minister has announced.

The average occupancy rate of the residential centers has reached around 30 percent during the mentioned period, ILNA quoted Vali Teymouri as saying on Sunday.

Appreciating tourists and travelers who followed health protocols during their trips, the official also thanked those who delayed or postponed their travels to help the tourism industry deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

Last year the country went into lockdown during Noruz holidays due to the coronavirus pandemic. Iranians made over 74 million overnight stays during the two-week Persian New Year holidays in 1398 (March 21-April 2, 2019).

Early in March, President Hassan Rouhani declared new travel bans for cities situated in the “red” and “orange” zones to combat the new COVID-19 variant.

Rouhani called on people to avoid traveling during the Iranian New Year holidays to help contain the spread of coronavirus. He said it would be forbidden to make trips to cities marked as “red” and “orange” in terms of the prevalence of COVID-19.

“We request people to avoid traveling during Noruz holidays for the sake of their own health… It will be forbidden to travel to red and orange towns and cities,” he said. “No one should make any plans to travel to these cities,” he stressed.

Late in February, the tourism minister, Ali-Asghar Mounesan, said despite all the obstacles and issues and the outbreak of the coronavirus, the country’s tourism sector is still alive and dynamic.

Noruz ceremonies and trips, if practiced under health protocols, could be beneficial for the revival of the tourism industry and handicrafts, which have been severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic in many provinces, the minister explained.

Iranians traditionally make hundreds of thousands of domestic trips during the New Year holidays, when most businesses and workplaces are closed, as are schools.