Urban and travel infrastructure in the three Iranian cities which are home to the Sassanid Archaeological Landscape in Fars Province will be promoted to reach higher standards, after the ensemble was inscribed on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites last week.
Negotiations for the development plans were conducted during the sixth session of Fars Tourism Working Group held on Wednesday. The participants discussed the ways to promote the cities as prospective popular destinations, CHTN reported.
Speaking at the meeting, Mohsen Alavi, governor of Firouzabad County, highlighted the necessity of developing lodging facilities for foreign and domestic tourists and called for the involvement of private investors to help accelerate to progress.
"The ancient cities are already appropriate for visitors but the quality of accommodation must be upgrades to a level that a global heritage site deserves," Alavi noted.
To gain the best results, he added, "we should draw on the knowledge of experts."
Besides a high-potential place, facilities such as lodging spaces, easy transportation, bilingual tour guides as well as access to food, water and sanitary facilities are essential to draw visitors in huge numbers.
Previous Measures
The area has so far gone through numerous restorations and modifications so as to meet the criteria needed for the global status. According to Mosayyeb Amiri, provincial director of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, the first standard to meet was modification of buffer zones.
A buffer zone provides an additional layer of protection to a historical or cultural property, separating it from other sites and ensuring no harm would come to the site.
"The cemetery in Firouzabad fire-temple had been a challenge to us, since we had to make major modifications at its boundaries and remove the excess elements such as fences," Amiri said.
Furthermore, the Palace of Ardashir, structures of Goor City, the historical texture of Bishapour have so far undergone major restorations, the official added.
"Equipping the tourist spots with guesthouses, security systems and full-time guards, transportation networks, roads, bilingual signs, medical centers, libraries, public bath-houses and prayer rooms are among the previous measures."
However, Amiri noted, the area is still in need of more development to make the world heritage site more convenient for tourists.
Matter of Int'l Sensitivity
What makes the world more sensitive is that any construction, manipulation or partitioning within the designated zones and any alteration or activity that cause damage to the facade, grounds and buildings of a historical or cultural site is prohibited under world heritage regulations.
Therefore, "Iranian heritage authorities should be alert and prevent any such violation while implementing tourism projects."
The ensemble of three ancient Iranian cities was granted the global status by UNESCO last Saturday during the 42nd World Heritage Committee Session in Bahrain.
The ensemble represents Iran's 23rd and Fars Province's fourth site on the coveted list.
The landscape comprises the historical cities of Bishapour, Firouzabad and Sarvestan in Fars Province that are home to the ruins of the city of Goor, Ardeshir's Palace, Qal'e-ye-Dokhtar fortress and Sassanid bas-reliefs.
