Tourism in the Iranian city of Yazd has all but collapsed six months into the country’s war with a US-Israeli coalition, with more than half of local facilities shut or loss-making, broadcaster China’s CGTN reported.
Some hotels in the UNESCO-listed city are reporting occupancy below 5%, according to the report, which described the “Golden Triangle” of Iranian tourism, the circuit linking Yazd with Isfahan and Shiraz, as a “ghost route”.
Yazd was a crossroads for international travellers drawn to its wind catchers and the historic Fahadan district, where hotels were once booked months in advance. Foreign arrivals have all but stopped since the 12-day war of June last year and the renewed conflict that began in February.
Mehdi Mirzaei, a proprietor at the Yazd Art House guesthouse, said the wars had severely damaged foreign tourism and that many operators were struggling to generate any revenue. He said domestic tourism also evaporated during bombardments, with vacancies disappearing almost instantly.
Goli Pourkavian, another proprietor at the property, said the absence of foreign visitors was keenly felt and that the business had been forced to redesign its offering around domestic Iranian travellers to survive. The shift had kept the guesthouse afloat but the outlook remained uncertain, she said.
The fighting between the coalition and Iran has largely subsided, but the economic aftershocks continue. Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts reported earlier in the year that dozens of historic sites had been damaged in the conflict, and hotel bodies have described near-total occupancy collapses at destinations including Qeshm Island.