Tourism rescue version on the minister’s desk; The Chamber of Commerce took the lead in designing the support package

Holding numerous expert meetings and receiving field reports on the status of tourism organizations and activists, and the initial estimate of their losses in recent incidents and the continued unemployment of tourism activists after the 12-day war, the issue of compensation for losses caused by recent events was placed on the agenda of private sector organizations and the government.

The sharp decrease in domestic and inbound trips, the cancellation of tours, the drop in hotel occupancy rates and the stagnation of travel service offices have put significant pressure on the country’s tourism industry, and the Tourism Commission of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce has warned about the impact of the damage caused to tourism operators in the last two months and asked the government to provide facilities to travel and tourism operators and declare emergency conditions in the tourism industry to prevent further damage to this industry.

It was after these warnings that Samad Hassanzadeh, the head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, announced the readiness of the Tourism Commission of the Iran Chamber of Commerce and the relevant departments of this chamber to formulate support packages for Iran’s tourism industry, and by sending a letter to the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, Seyed Reza Salehi Amiri asked him to put immediate support for tourism industry activists on the agenda and in cooperation with the Iran Chamber of Commerce, support packages for the country’s tourism industry activists who suffered losses in their businesses should be formulated.

After sending this letter, Anoushirvan Mohseni Bandapi, the country’s vice president of tourism, sent a letter to the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts and suggested that the responsibility of developing a compensation package for the losses of the tourism industry be handed over to the Iranian Chamber of Commerce. In this letter, it was emphasized that the Chamber of Commerce, as a representative of the private sector and in direct interaction with specialized organizations, can design a realistic, executable package that meets the needs of tourism industry activists by collecting field and expert views.

The purpose of this request is the practicality of the support packages for the tourism industry and avoiding sloganeering in the issue of government support. According to the announcement of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, the support package for tourism industry activists who have suffered severe losses in recent incidents includes operational solutions such as payment of financial facilities, postponement or installment of tax and insurance debts, support for maintaining employment, travel incentives and marketing programs to bring back domestic and foreign tourists.

Seyed Mostafa Mousavi, the head of the Tourism Commission of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, indicated that the Iran Chamber of Commerce is fully prepared to formulate support packages for tourism activists and announced: a joint meeting to review the details of the support package for the losses of the tourism industry will be held on Sunday (March 10) with the presence of heads of tourism organizations and industry experts at the premises of the Iran Chamber of Commerce.

According to him, this meeting will be held with the wide presence of representatives of tourism organizations, including hoteliers’ association, travel agencies’ association, tourist guides’ center, Iran’s tour operators’ association, tourism educational institutions, and a group of experts and specialists in this field, in order to make the necessary summaries about the details and how the government supports the damaged tourism industry activists.

The head of the Tourism Commission of Iran Chamber of Commerce added: Our approach is to develop a partnership package; This means that proposals are extracted from the private sector and submitted to the government and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage after summarizing the experts.

According to Mousavi, the tourism industry is more vulnerable to social and political changes than many sectors due to its service-oriented nature and direct dependence on psychological security and economic stability. Therefore, the design of targeted support mechanisms can prevent business closures, layoffs, and the departure of specialized human capital from this industry.

Seyyed Mostafa Mousavi announced that after the meeting on March 10th and the finalization of the proposals, the compiled package will be presented to the government in the form of an official document so that after review and approval, the ground for its implementation will be provided in the shortest possible time to take an effective step in the direction of revitalizing the tourism industry and restoring prosperity to this important economic sector of the country.