TEHRAN - Fewer people stayed in Iranian hotels during New Year (Noruz) holidays (March 21-April 4) compared to the same period a year earlier due to record flooding and rain showers, according to statistics released Monday by the head of Iran Hotels Association.

Average occupancy rate of the country’s hotels tumbled by 21 percent since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21) to April 4 (end of Noruz holidays) in comparison to the same period last year, Mehr quoted Jamshid Hamzezadeh as saying.

“The statistics showed 15 percent slump by the end of March 30 but fell to 21 percent till April 4.”

“Of course, this decline has been calculated on average, (for instance) in some provinces such as Khuzestan, we have seen 40 to 50 percent decrease in occupancy rates. Also, in some provinces such as Tehran, we witnessed an increase in the hotel occupancy rate,” he explained.

Hamzezadeh also called government assistance saying, “At the time of flooding, we were one of the institutions that announced that travelers can cancel their stay without paying any costs, and now the government is expected to provide conditions or incentives for hoteliers to compensate for some of their costs.”

The catastrophic floods have hit 1,900 cities and villages in western, southwestern, northern and northeastern Iran, leaving 70 dead and hundreds displaced.

The flooding inflicted considerable damage to buildings and other structures, including bridges, sewerage systems, roadways, and canals as well as crops and livestock in many provinces, especially in Mazandaran, Khuzestan, Golestan, and Lorestan.

AFM/MQ/MG