Iranian tourists flock to Van, filling hotels

VAN

The occupancy rate of the hotels in the eastern province of Van has hit 100 percent as Iranians have thronged the city with the start of a national three-day holiday in their country.

“Some 5,000 Iranians entered on the first day of their holiday,” Yunus Yüksel, the board chair of the Van Hotel Owners and Tourism Professionals Association, told Demirören News Agency on June 5.

Normally, around 800 people enter and exit both countries daily.

Iranians passed the Kapıköy Customs Gate in the province’s Saray district in the early hours of the day. “The city witnessed a joyful liveliness with the Iranians’ arrival,” Yüksel added.

According to the local tour agency owners, the reason behind this congestion is the end of the two-year coronavirus pandemic.

“Iranians prefer Van as it is the nearest city to the border. After the pandemic, we witnessed huge demand from Iranians,” Merzi Saadet, an agency owner noted.

The number of Iranians visiting Van was around 220,000 in 2016. The number doubled to 440,000 in 2017 but dwindled to 230,000 in 2018.

Due to the pandemic, just 73,000 Iranians could come to Van in 2020 as the Kapıköy Customs Gate was closed for vehicle and pedestrian entries on March 24, 2020.

Some 16,000 Iranians flocked to the city just after the gate was fully reopened on Oct. 9 the following year.

“Many shopkeepers in Van employ people speaking Farsi to serve Iranians better,” Demirören News Agency highlighted.

June 5 is the “Khordad National Uprising,” also called “Revolt of Khordad 15,” a day commemorating the public protests in 1963 that are seen as a pivotal point in Iran’s transition to the Islamic Republic.