Hotels, cities of Najaf and Karbala, the US dollar replaced the Toman Iranian

[ALBUNDY 609]

Hotels, cities of Najaf and Karbala, the US dollar replaced the Toman Iranian

03-02-2013

To a time prior to the imposition of international sanctions, economic, especially on Iran, the cities of Najaf and Karbala, all over the world they crowd of more than 5,000 visitors a day, an Iranian, and that number increased to more than 10 times on religious occasions, arrive by air via the airports in Najaf and Baghdad, or by land through border gates by buses, visits to an important part of the backbone of the economy in the two cities the Shiites, necessitating the development of a military airport was established under the former regime to civilian airport (Najaf International Airport), approximately 350 hotels in Najaf and in Karbala, with 500 revival movement of sale and restaurants, according to Saeb Abu Ghneim, President of the Association of hotels.

But hotels and markets in Najaf and Karbala today, because the Iranian currency depreciation against the dollar and Iraqi dinar, narrowed to the Iranian presence, by clarifying the Abu Ghneim for «Middle East» by telephone from Najaf today, "rather than enter the 5,000 visitors daily to the Iranian city in the past, comes between 800 to 1,000 visitors, and the programme of the visit was to date that Iranian visitors stay 3 days in Karbala and Najaf, 95 per cent of our hotels are Iranian pilgrims», «in Najaf alone there are 260 hotels and 75 under construction, and a bed run 30,000 today does not exceed 10% at best, and that's what led to the closure of 200 hotels in Najaf alone.

Adds Abu Ghneim, speaking from his hotel (alfrkodin), said: «Hotel 4-star, for example, was jammed with visitors, and today a 5 per cent occupancy, prices were about 40 beds us $ per person, and that's what we call the category (a), $ 30 ( and 28 dollars to category ©, and these prices with full Board minus $ 2 to the Ministry of tourism, and today because of the recession there is almost compulsory reduction of $ 8 from all hotels», «Najaf hotels And Karbala and shops accept the Iranian currency, but after its collapse no longer trust, and we are dealing with Iranian visitors to the US dollar, and this cost them a lot.

And Chairman of the Hotel Association in the city of Najaf, believes that «the new sanctions threatened by the u.s. Iran blow damage to our work, here cost less to create a hotel is more than $ 5 million, and this requires a lot of work to compensate him, visits the Shiite from Arab Gulf States, India and Pakistan do not constitute reliable».

Explains Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Abbas, a member of the local government in the province and the provincial Council Tourism Commission that highlighted a problem facing hotel owners and commercial interests, is their decision to shut down the Iranian currency (Rial) and instead of dealing in US dollars, adding that "there are many hotels suffered a loss, but it did close its doors because they engaged in religious events and depend on the Gulf visitors who pay in dollars, since the occasion of Karbala received the visit of the forty of the death of Imam Hussein more than 750,000 overseas visitors.

The owner of one of the companies in the city of Karbala to the Iranian currency rate decreased significantly, and this has an impact on all business in the city, today we are not dealing very much (the Toman), after we were deliberating hundreds of thousands daily», «treated merchants and hotels in the city today with Iranian visitors to the US dollar, the price was $ 100 thousand tomans per cent, while the price today is 365 thousand Toman Iranian, Iraqi dinar price was 500 tomans, day 3 Thousand Toman.

Adds banking business owner who did not publish his name, saying: «Middle East»: «this deterioration in Iranian currency impact even on rentals of shops and commercial traffic, the markets of Karbala and Najaf with thousands of visitors crowded the Iranians, especially women who they shop gifts for relatives in Iran, while today markets are almost empty.

الشرق الاوسط

Read more: http://131.253.14.66/proxy.ashx?h=m2j7-MNQ7dfNSzygEvGFP9w0TJcAlBYI&a=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sotaliraq.com%2Fmobile-news.php%3Fid%3D87162#ixzz2JtqWBhDG