Sharhrvand newspaper reports that the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization has stopped issuing licenses for new Passenger Houses, an accommodation system where individuals could rent their apartments once registered at the Tourism Organization. The decision which was made to support the hospitality industry and hotels, has found many supporters and critics. On the one hand, the head of the Tourism Commission at the Tehran Chamber of Commerce believes that this decision will not solve the issues. A worker earning the minimum wage of 9.3 million IRR (253 USD) a month can never pay the nightly cost of 3 million IRR to stay in a hotel. He also considered the pricing of hotels illogical considering the quality of their services concludes that with the price of two nights stay at an Iranian five-star hotel, one could take a vacation in Antalya. The Head of the Hotelists Society believes that although travelers are in need of 3 star hotels, more 5 star hotels are being built. Based on the statistics from the Chamber of Commerce, there are currently 1240 hotels, 780 apartment hotels and 1200 inns active in the country.