TEHRAN – The occupancy rate of hotels in the northeastern Khorasan Razavi province, one of Iran’s giant travel destinations, has plummeted to 10 percent, ILNA quoted Abolfazl Mokaramifar, the provincial tourism chief, as saying on Monday.

Although based on the number of COVID-19 infections and fatalities, the province is on the red risk zone, the hotels are allowed to resume their work, however, the number of visits to the province has decreased drastically and there are no foreign tourists in the province.

No tourist sites or museums have been closed and no specific decision has yet been made on the possible closure of them, the official added.

He also noted that travel restrictions haven’t been imposed yet, but travelers need to follow strict health protocols.

Earlier last week, Esmaeil Khayyami, the health tourism manager of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences announced that the coronavirus pandemic has slashed the number of travelers visiting the city of Mashhad for medical purposes by 95 percent over the past few months.

Having 14 hospitals and three medical centers, which are offering special services to foreign patients, Mashhad has the most medical tourists in the country after Tehran.

Before the coronavirus puts everything on lockdown, Mashhad played host to thousands of travelers and pilgrims who come from various Iranian cities, neighboring countries, and even across the globe to visit the imposing, massive holy shrine complex of Imam Reza (AS), the eighth Imam of the Shia Muslims.

Almost 40 million Iranian pilgrims and travelers visited the city during the last Iranian calendar year (ended March 19).

Dozens of five-star hotels and hostels are dotted around the holy shrine. The city has also the highest concentration of water parks in the country, and it also embraces a variety of cultural and historical sites that are generally crowded.

ABU/MG