A plan to promote the virtual tour of Iran’s historical spots listed on UNESCO’s world heritage sites has been unveiled recently.
Called “11,000-kilometer trip at home: visiting world heritage sites”, the plan is jointly designed by the Information and Communication Technologies Ministry and Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Ministry, the latter’s Public Relations Office reported.
Officials say the plan, unveiled in Tehran on Wednesday, is the first of its kind implemented in the country.
As explained, the virtual tour is aimed at partially offsetting the travel ban triggered by COVID-19 during the Norouz (Iranian New Year) holidays from March 20 to April 3.
A small-scale pilot scheme was run during Norouz, which provided a virtual tour of several museums.
“The scheme was unexpectedly welcomed by the society and that encouraged us to continue the work on a larger scale,” Amir Nazemi, deputy ICT minister, said.
The virtual tour will surf through a selection of 24 historically valuable sites in Khuzestan, Fars, Isfahan, Kerman, Yazd, Sistan-Baluchestan and Khorasan Razavi provinces, over an 11,000-kilometer route.
According to UNESCO’s website, Iran has 22 cultural heritage and two natural heritage sites inscribed on the world list. These sites include Bam and its cultural landscape, Bistun, Meymand, Golestan Palace, Gonbad-e Qabus, the historic city of Yazd, Masjed-e Jame’ of Isfahan, Pasargad, Susa, Hyrcanian forests and Lut Desert.
A team of experts will soon start preparing a documentary report of each site within a two-week timeframe, starting from Khuzestan Province in the southwest to Khorasan Razavi in the northeast of the country.
The video clips will then be streamed by online platforms (that will be named later) as 90-minute episodes.
RighTel mobile network operator company is also expected to take a share of streaming tasks, Nazemi explained.
Plan’s Benefits
According to the agreement, one petabyte of digital space has been earmarked for ICHHTO to store text and multimedia data of the historical spots.
“This will be the first step toward updating and digitalizing the organization’s archive of documents,” Nazemi said.
He added that in case the project delivers positive results, similar plans will be designed both to popularize the virtual tour and complete Iran’s cultural heritage digital database.
Officials say the project encourages the society to promote alternative ways of promoting tourism, which is highly preferable, especially amid the spread of the deadly coronavirus in the country.
Iran is among the countries hardest hit by the novel coronavirus. As of April 24, COVID-19 has infected 87,026 people, claiming 5,481 lives.
Employing inter-city traffic restrictions and convincing people not to hit the road in a bid to control the emergency situation caused by the virus, minimize Norouz trips and give a boost to tourism businesses.
However, officials are optimistic about the new scheme, as the virtual experience opens up new horizons in the domestic travel industry and creates grounds for encouraging entrepreneurship and generating income.
Nazemi emphasized that challenges and limitations, like the coronavirus afflicting the country, give rise to creativity and help develop innovative ideas.
The current virtual tour project is one such innovations, he added.
Sharp Fall in Travels
Last week, an Iranian startup called Neshan reported that the number of trips made during Norouz holidays observed a sharp fall compared to last year.
Neshan is a popular homegrown navigation app used by over 4 million Iranians.
Based on data gathered from its users between March 13 and April 16, the startup has released a report explaining that the number of trips made during the period plunged by 71% compared to a year earlier. The figure has been confirmed by state entities like Iran traffic police.
Norouz is the main extended holiday season in Iran. Schools and businesses are closed for almost two weeks and many families hit the road to meet friends and relatives.
The analysis indicates a sharp fall in the number of trips made during the period compared to a year earlier.
Neshan’s CEO Javad Amel says, “Google has been releasing Community Mobility Reports based on data gathered from 130 countries, but it does not cover Iran.”
Such domestic reports help authorities implement more effective measures for curbing the COVID-19 spread.
According to Amel, citizens can also use the information to evade crowded areas.
