Iran eco-tourism operators warn of closures as travel dries up
Tourism businesses report empty rooms, mounting losses and growing pressure to cut jobs as rising living costs push travel out of reach for many households.
Tourism businesses report empty rooms, mounting losses and growing pressure to cut jobs as rising living costs push travel out of reach for many households.
Tourism businesses in Iran are struggling to survive as economic hardship and a sharp decline in travel leave eco-lodges empty, operators facing bankruptcy and workers at risk of losing their jobs, according to a report by Shargh newspaper.
Once promoted as a way to boost local economies and preserve traditional lifestyles, eco-lodges across Iran are now grappling with falling visitor numbers, rising costs and mounting financial pressure.
"The damage caused by the war will take months to repair, and tourism will need a long time to return to previous levels," Yavar Abiri, head of Iran's Association of Eco-Lodge Professional Societies, told Shargh.
Abiri said many Iranians have shifted their priorities from travel to basic survival as economic uncertainty deepens.
"People are saving whatever money they have for essential needs in case another war breaks out," he said.
Travel slips down household priorities
Tourism operators say domestic travel had already been weakening before the latest economic shocks.
Official statistics cited by Shargh showed that nearly half of Iranian households did not take a single trip during the spring of 2024. Industry representatives say rising prices have forced many families to either cancel travel altogether or cut costs by camping, avoiding restaurants and reducing leisure spending.
Officials have also questioned whether travel remains a priority for many households.
Hani Rastegaran, secretary of the National Travel Services Coordination Headquarters, previously described declining domestic travel as a warning sign for the tourism sector and called for an assessment of whether economic pressure had pushed travel out of family budgets.
Eco-lodges face closures
Mahlagha Mahdavi, who operates an eco-lodge in Shiraz and has worked in the sector for a decade, said the downturn has intensified over the past year.
"We faced a sharp drop in visitors and had to offer significant discounts because people simply could not afford to travel," Mahdavi told Shargh.
She said many eco-lodge employees are women and heads of households, prompting operators to avoid layoffs despite worsening finances.
"We do not know how long we can continue without reducing staff," she said.
Many former tourism operators, according to Mahdavi, have already left the industry, while the profile of travelers has changed. Visitors who once belonged largely to the middle class have been replaced by wealthier Iranians who can no longer justify foreign trips but continue to travel domestically.
Revenue collapses, costs soar
Operators in other provinces described similar challenges. Abas'ad Sharafkhani, who runs an eco-lodge in Hamedan province, said revenue between January and April amounted to only a fraction of what he had expected.
"Out of the income I had projected, I earned only about 10 percent, and even that barely covered operating costs," he told Shargh.
Sharafkhani said many eco-lodges are nearing complete bankruptcy and that some properties sustained physical damage during the conflict.
He criticized authorities for failing to provide meaningful support or compensation.
Rising prices force cutbacks
Ahmad Kazemi, an eco-lodge operator in Khorasan Razavi province, said inflation has transformed the economics of the business.
"When we started in 2019, a sack of high-quality Iranian rice cost three million rials ($1.8). Now it costs 64 million rials (about $36)," Kazemi told Shargh.
He said accommodation packages that once cost 4000,000 rials ($2.2) now cost between forty and fifty million rials ($22-28), even after operators reduce their profit margins.
To cope with rising expenses, Kazemi said his lodge has removed lunch and dinner services and now offers only accommodation and breakfast.
"People are not traveling for leisure the way they used to," he said. "Many now choose short local trips because they are cheaper."
Iran's minimum monthly wage is currently equivalent to about $90–$110, depending on exchange-rate movements, while labor experts estimate that many workers earn around $150 per month on average.
Industry operators told Shargh that without financial support and an improvement in household purchasing power, many of Iran's eco-lodges may be unable to continue operating, threatening jobs and a sector that was once viewed as a growing part of the country's tourism economy.
