Uncategorized Archives - Best Iran Tours & Travel Packages 2026/2027

Zahhak Castle in Iran’s Hashtrood lit up using solar energy

Amir Banan — Sun, 28 Dec 2025 06:13:33 +0000

Zahhak Castle in Iran’s Hashtrood lit up using solar energy

The ancient Zahhak Castle in Hashtrood, East Azarbaijan Province, has been decorated for the first time using solar power, marking a step toward eco-friendly heritage preservation in Iran.
The lighting system, installed at an altitude of 1,800 meters above sea level, uses 34 photovoltaic panels generating 20 kilowatts of electricity.
The project, costing 15 billion rials, provides full nighttime illumination for the castle and its surrounding archaeological site.
Director General of East Azarbaijan’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department, said the use of solar energy turns Zahhak Castle into a symbol of green tourism in the province.
He added that harnessing renewable energy in remote heritage sites reduces maintenance costs and ensures sustainable protection.
Zahhak Castle, also known as Narain Qala or Zahhak Qalasi, dates back over 2,000 years to the Parthian and Sassanid eras.
It was once a temple dedicated to Anahita, the goddess of water, and remains one of the most prominent archaeological landmarks in northwestern Iran.

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What luxury travel experience are Singaporeans willing to pay more for?

Amir Banan — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 07:05:17 +0000

What luxury travel experience are Singaporeans willing to pay more for?

More than a quarter want to get close to remote destinations.
Singaporean travellers are keen to shell out more money for luxury travel experiences, data from YouGov showed.
Amongst the experiences Singaporeans are willing to spend more for are those that allow them to get close to nature, and remote destinations (26%), and outstanding luxury accommodations in popular city hotspots (24%).
Singapore travellers will spend more bucks for Michelin star chefs or unique gourmet experiences (20%), or eco-friendly and sustainable hotels or resorts (20%), custom tours to connect with local culture (18%), a luxury stay on a private island (17%), and an expedition cruise to an adventurous destination (17%).
Sustainability is also essential for Singaporeans, with two in five (41%) saying they will pay more for eco-friendly and sustainable travel.
Furthermore, half of the consumers (49%) are seeking responsible travel companies.

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Planning your next flight? How Europe’s different air passenger taxes impact your wallet

admin — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 05:08:32 +0000

Planning your next flight? How Europe’s different air passenger taxes impact your wallet

French pilots are calling for a strike over rising taxes. But what do air passenger taxes mean for your wallet?

In France this week, the national union of airline pilots (‘Syndicat national des pilotes de ligne’ or ‘SNPL’) is calling a strike to protest the rise in air taxes. Concerns have been voiced that the latest planned amendment to aviation taxes could lead to tens of thousands of job losses in the country and affect tourism.

Air passenger taxes across Europe have increased this year. Read on to discover how this impacts the cost of your next flight.

What is air passenger duty tax?

Air passenger taxes are usually in addition to other taxes you pay when you book a flight.

Governments add them to encourage flyers to consider the environmental impact of their travel choices and discourage unnecessary air travel.

As you would expect, each country calculates their taxes differently based on the size of airports, popular regions, and types of aircraft, such as commercial planes and private jets.

Collecting these taxes is the responsibility of airlines, who charge them to customers as part of their ticket. The money is then spent at the discretion of each country’s government, often to fund public services.

These air passenger levies can raise substantial sums – for example, the UK government raised over £3 billion (€3.75 billion) between 2019 and 2020.

Some taxes, such as the French Eco Air Tax, are specifically designed to fund climate and environment-related issues, such as raising revenue for alternative transportation modes and more sustainable aviation infrastructure.

Who is for and against air passenger taxes?

Airlines are concerned about what extra taxes mean to passengers and call them “anti-growth”.

IATA director general Willie Walsh slammed the German tax this year, while Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary said that the UK’s planned Air Passenger Duty (APD) rise would cause the budget airline to cut its flights to and from the UK by 10 per cent, which is the equivalent of five million passengers.

Environmental campaigners say that air passenger duty taxes could go much further to discourage flying.

Hannah Lawrence at Stay Grounded, a network to counter aviation, says, “Measures to stop the growth of air traffic are exactly what we need.”

“We need to see effective policies implemented across Europe that fairly reduce air traffic, such as the implementation of a Frequent Flying Levy. [This] would reduce emissions by reducing excessive flights for wealthy passengers.”

When Switzerland proposed a ticket tax (or ‘flugticketabgabe’) in 2021 to reduce aviation’s impact on climate change, over half of Swiss voters rejected it.

A year later, however, a representative survey conducted by the market research institute GfS Zurich and commissioned by environmental organisation Umverkehr indicated that almost three-quarters of respondents supported the Swiss ticket tax for climate reasons.

Many of the respondents were clear on the potential of such a fund: 75 per cent wanted the tax revenue to go towards Swiss climate protection projects, while 55 per cent wanted to see the money support international rail transport.

Interestingly, younger travellers were less in favour of the Swiss ticket tax.

How do European countries compare on their passenger air tax?

Passenger taxes are in addition to other taxes, including airport taxes based on the traffic volume at different airports and civil aviation tax.

France

France has an eco tax, known as ‘éco-taxe’ or ‘éco-contribution’, which first came into effect in January 2020. It applies to travellers departing from French airports.

Passengers travelling to destinations in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom and Switzerland are charged either €2.63 or € 20.27 per passenger, depending on their class of travel.

For all other destinations, passengers pay €7.51 on the lower rate and €63.07 on the higher rate per passenger.

Germany

Germany’s aviation tax covers passengers on commercial flights, and a price increase came into effect on 1 May 2024.

The rates are fixed at €15.53 per passenger for short-haul domestic flights and €39.34 per passenger on long-haul flights no more than 6,000 kilometres, and includes countries in North and Central Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

For some destinations, including transatlantic flights, the rate is €70.83 per passenger.

Italy

Any passengers arriving or departing from an Italian airport pay the Italian aero taxi tax, known as ‘imposta erariale sui voli dei passeggeri di aerotaxi’, which is similarly based on the distance travelled.

The lowest rate is €10 per passenger when the distance is below 100 kilometres and can be up to €200 per passenger for distances over 1,400 kilometres.

Commercial flights that sell seats rather than rent out the entire aircraft and private, non-commercial flights are both exempt from the tax.

UK

The UK’s APD was first introduced in 1994. Fees are based on distance in miles from London. The system also considers different classes of travel, with business and first-class passengers paying higher rates.

It was recently announced that the APD will increase from April 2026, meaning an extra £2 per passenger will be charged for economy tickets on short-haul international flights.

The lowest rate starts at £8 (€9.53) per passenger for domestic flights and can be as high as £1,141 (€1359.72) for private jet passengers.

According to Ryanair, this latest APD tax rise means that a family of four flying to Spain from the UK will need to pay an extra £60 (€71.50).

There remains an unusual loophole in Britain’s scheme, known as the ‘Inverness Immunity’.

Savvy travellers can avoid paying any APD by opting for return flights from Inverness, a small airport in the Scottish Highlands, to hubs like London and Amsterdam. As long as connecting flights are within a 24-hour window, passengers can avoid the tax due to an exemption that protects the region’s remote rural and island communities.

Denmark

Denmark is still to launch its passenger tax on air travel (‘passagerafgift på flyrejser’), which will come into effect on 1 January 2025. The specific goal of this tax is to support the country’s green transformation by investing in more sustainable aviation and transport technologies.

There are three tax rates based on the final destination of a journey, including intra-European, medium-distance, and long-distance journeys.

The tax applies to all commercial flights from Denmark, except flights from the Faroe Islands and Greenland.

The Netherlands

The Netherlands first implemented its air passenger tax in January 2021 and has one of the highest in Europe, costing €29.05 in 2024, regardless of a passenger’s final destination.

Children under two years of age, flight crew on active duty and inactive flight crew travelling to another airport for the purpose of work, as well as transit and connecting passengers, are exempt from paying.

Portugal

Portugal adopted its aviation carbon tax, known as ‘taxa de carbono sobre viagens aéreas’, in July 2021.

The tax law has undergone significant changes and now covers both commercial flights and non-commercial private jet flights, but for the average commercial passenger, it’s €2 each.

Source: euronews

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Fed up with hoards of cruise passengers, Alaska residents are calling for ‘ship-free Saturdays’

admin — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 05:16:14 +0000

Fed up with hoards of cruise passengers, Alaska residents are calling for ‘ship-free Saturdays’

A cruise ship cap is being introduced in Alaska’s capital to curb overtourism.

A new agreement between Alaska’s capital city and major cruise lines seeks to cap the daily number of cruise ship passengers arriving in Juneau starting in 2026, though a prominent critic of the cruise industry said on Tuesday the planned limits do not do enough.

The agreement, finalised late last week, seeks a daily limit of 16,000 cruise passengers Sundays through Fridays and 12,000 on Saturdays. However, officials said that doesn’t necessarily mean there will be that many people every day.

Cruise passenger numbers ramped up rapidly after two pandemic-stunted years, hitting a record of more than 1.6 million passengers in Juneau last year. That’s caused tension between businesses that rely on tourism and residents who are fed up with increased traffic, busy trails and the hum of helicopters ferrying visitors to glaciers.

Cruise seasons also have gotten longer, with the first boat this year arriving in Juneau in early April and the last set to arrive in late October. On peak days in the past, passenger numbers have totalled about two-thirds of Juneau’s population of roughly 32,000 people.

A daily limit of five large ships took effect with the current season, as part of a separate agreement signed last year.

A cruise ship sits docked near downtown Juneau, Alaska, Sunday, June 2017.

Cruise passenger cap will ‘buy time’ to improve infrastructure

Alexandra Pierce, Juneau’s visitor industry director, said on Tuesday that the aim with the current agreement is to hold cruise passenger numbers roughly steady, in the 1.6 million range.

“The idea is that the agreement buys everybody time not only to see if it is sustainable but also to build the infrastructure that will help it feel more sustainable,” she said.

Pierce said she expects a number of projects will be completed in the next five years “that will help our current numbers feel less impactful”. She cited plans for a gondola at the city-owned ski area, updates to the downtown sea walk and increased visitor capacity at the popular Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area.

The agreement, which was signed by the city manager and major cruise line executives, also calls for yearly meetings to “review lessons learned, to review and optimise the subsequent season’s operations, and align on community and industry parameters, goals and opportunities.”

Pierce said city leaders are “trying to balance the needs of our residents, the needs of our economy, the needs of future opportunities for people to stay in our community.”

Passengers stream off the Norwegian Bliss after the vessel arrived in Juneau, Alaska, April 2022.

Critics say Alaska’s cruise passenger cap doesn’t go far enough

Karla Hart, a longtime critic of the industry, is skeptical of the new agreement, saying it doesn’t do enough to address concerns many residents have that current tourism levels are unsustainable.

“It feels like we’re just getting led along again, and expansion will continue and more time will pass” and impacts will continue, she said.

Hart is helping push a proposed local ballot initiative that would institute “ship free Saturdays,” with no cruise ships with a capacity of at least 250 passengers allowed to stop in Juneau on Saturdays or on 4 July. The signature-review process for the proposed measure is underway. If the measure is certified, it could appear on the October ballot.

Renée Limoge Reeve, vice president of government and community relations for Cruise Lines International Association Alaska, a trade group, said initiatives “remove the opportunity for collaboration and discussion, and I think that that leaves a lot to be desired”.

She said the agreements with Juneau are the first such agreements the industry has signed in Alaska and underscore the cruise lines’ commitment “to being good partners in the communities that we visit”.

Juneau and other southeast Alaska communities are popular stops on cruises that leave from Seattle or Vancouver. The much-smaller community of Sitka also has been grappling with the debate over tourism numbers.

Reeve and Pierce also participated on Tuesday in a Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce news conference to discuss the agreement.

Source: euronews

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Iran to Offer Free Visas Upon Arrival for Qatar’s 2022 FIFA World Cup Spectators

admin — Tue, 03 May 2022 05:27:13 +0000

Iran to Offer Free Visas Upon Arrival for Qatar’s 2022 FIFA World Cup Spectators

Iran announced that it has waived visa fees for foreign nationals visiting Qatar during the World Cup 2022.

Iranian Government Spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi said that issuing free-of-charge visas for World Cup visitors will be in line with agreements reached with Qatar during a trip to Doha last month by Iranian President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi.

“This (Cabinet) bill can have an effective role in attracting and encouraging World Cup visitors to travel to Iran and to boost the country’s tourism industry,” he wrote on his Twitter page on Wednesday”.

The Iranian foreign ministry had said earlier this week that the new visa scheme would apply to all World Cup visitors except nationals of the US, Britain, and Canada as well as Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Somalia, and Sri Lanka.

The report said that visas issued under the scheme will be valid for two months and 20-day stays and visitors will be able to apply for one, two, or multiple entries.

Iran has been working closely with Qatar to help the country in its preparations to host the World Cup from November 21 to December 18.

Authorities say the Southern Iranian island of Kish could be a major destination for World Cup visitors seeking to travel to Iran.

This development comes following Qatari Transport Minister Jassim bin Saif al-Sulaiti’s visit to Iran’s Kish island where he signed six cooperation agreements on Sunday and Monday. Kish Island is a 92 square kilometer (35 square miles) resort island with white sand beaches. It is a 40-minute flight or six-hour boat ride from the capital of Qatar.

2022 FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup 2022 for the very first time the event is coming to the Middle East region with Qatar being the first gulf nation to host it.

The decision to host FIFA World Cup 2022 was part of FIFA’s pledge to stage at least one major international tournament in the region before 2030. While the Qatar 2022 tournament faced a lot of objections, FIFA still decided to go ahead with the tournament in the Middle Eastern nation.

FIFA World Cup: Qatar 2022 tournament to be played in the winter

Qatar was chosen by FIFA over rival bids from Australia, Japan, South Korea, and the USA during the final vote in 2010. While the FIFA World Cup is usually played in summer the Qatar 2022 event will be played in winter. The main reason behind the decision was soaring summer temperatures in the country.

Excessive heat in Qatar, with average temperatures at the end of April reaching around 92 F (33 C) was the reason behind the decision. The winter temperatures in Qatar, and specifically in the Doha region, average between 70-77F (21-25 C), compared to over 100 F (37 C) in the region’s summer.

FIFA World Cup 2022 groups

Group A: Qatar (hosts), Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands

Group B: England, Iran, United States, Wales/Scotland/Ukraine

Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland

Group D: France, Peru/Australia/UAE, Denmark, Tunisia

Group E: Spain, Costa Rica/New Zealand, Germany, Japan

Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia

Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon

Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea

FIFA World Cup 2022 fixtures

The tournament kicks off on Monday, November 21, and will be wrapped up in less than a month with the final tabbed for Sunday, December 18. The Group stage of the FIFA World Cup will be played between November 21 to December 2.

Following the completion of the Group stage, the Round of 16 clashes will be played from December 3-6.

The Quarterfinals stage of the tournament will be played from December 9-10. The Semifinal matches will be played on December 13-14, while the third-place match and Final will be played on December 17 and December 18 respectively.

2022 World Cup Schedule Qatar

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Gashttour Health Measures During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Transportation Sector

admin — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 17:43:32 +0000

Our health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic in the transportation sector

Health is a fundamental human right and also an important social goal for all societies. That is why the transport company “Parsian Sepanta”, which has been working for many years with Gashttour Travel Agency in the field of tour transport services & passenger transport, has expanded its measures against the COVID-19 pandemic during the trip. These actions are in line with global standards in all areas and include all specific health protocols and mechanisms before, during, and after the trip.

Health protocols

According to this health policy, the necessary regulations for means of transport, and the driver were prepared in the phases before, during, and after the journey. The necessary measures are known to the drivers through participation in practical workshops. To implement the measures, there is constant monitoring by the company’s quality control.

The Parsian Sepanta health package

The health package is provided for travelers in a special and washable bag. It contains:

o Wet wipe

o Two mouth-nose protective masks per day of travel

o Two latex gloves per day of travel

Hygiene items in the vehicle

o Paper handkerchief

o Hand disinfectant (As a gel or liquid)

o Alcoholic cleaning and disinfection spray

o Disposable gloves

The driver

Disinfection of hands and general personal hygiene
Health confirmation and health card
Implementation of health protocols
The driver must always put on a face mask
Card payment and cashless payment of toll fees, fuel costs, etc.

Tour (During passenger transportation)

The control and inspection of vehicles
The complete car washes with steam cleaning on a Nano basis
Complete refueling
Use of hand disinfectant (gel or liquid) in the vehicle. (The number and location vary depending on the vehicle)
Use of surface disinfection spray (for surfaces and cell phones).
Inserting a garbage bag or attachable waste collector to the seats.
Inserting the pack of disposable gloves and tissue
Avoiding contact with surfaces and observing the hygiene regulations when accepting objects during the trip
Preparation of food and drinks according to health standards
Disinfection of the vehicle’s interior (chairs, handles, etc.)
The use of gentle fragrances to reduce the smell of disinfectants.
Seats disinfection with UV device
Quality control and monitoring by the company.
Distribution of the health package according to the booked travel days
Air conditioning of the interior of the vehicle after the passengers disembark.
Disinfection of the vehicle’s interior before each trip during daily visits.
Empty the trash before every trip on daily visits.
Stopover only in places that are under the supervision of the tourism organization and have a health permit.
Daily cleaning and disinfection of the vehicle after the transfer to the hotel.

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