The Education Ministry has given the initial green light to the insertion of winter holidays into the school calendar but its implementation in the upcoming academic year is still uncertain, the head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization said.
Speaking to ILNA, Ali Asghar Mounesan said introducing the change could be a lengthy process as the ministry needs to adopt its own procedures for the scheme and the Parliament is likely to weigh in to have its say.
"It will not be clear, then, whether or not the scheme would be enforced this year," he said. The winter holiday is a plan proposed by ICHHTO with the purpose of distributing domestic travelers more evenly throughout the year and the country. It is expected to help boost tourism in the warmer areas of the county, such as the southern strip, which are not popular during the summertime high season.
"In the summer, when schools are closed, these regions are too hot and people do not tend to take a trip. The best season for those destinations is the winter when people still cannot travel because schools are open," Mounesan said.
It has been welcomed by environmental bodies as well because the proposed time for the holiday specially coincides with the air pollution peak in metropolises which could be alleviated by temporary school shutdowns.
Modified Plan
After its formulation, the plan has been reviewed and modified to make it more feasible. The ICHHTO chief explained that the new scheme is completely different from the initial proposal and has been simplified and shortened so as to reduce the complications and accelerate its approval.
"We propose that schools be shut down for one week to 15 days in early January. Employees and people in other occupations will be able to take days off… This will eventually lead to a more balanced tourism," he said.
Since he took office last August, Mounesan has been pursuing the goal of spreading out domestic trips in terms of time and space to prevent overtourism in one place and lack of visitors in the other.
The common rush for the northern cities of Iran on the Caspian Sea during holidays despite all its difficulties, including hours-long traffic congestions, has been a concern for tourism and environmental activists alike since it will not only spoil the pristine nature of the region, but also deprive other destinations of the benefits of tourism.
Inefficient Marketing
Various reasons have been identified for the trend among which the availability of tourism infrastructure in those cities in comparison with other destinations, although Mounesan believes it is not the sole deciding factor.
"We do not claim that the facilities are ideal everywhere, but the basics have been provided, especially ecolodges have been a great help … what we have not done is effective marketing," he noted.
Many attractions, according to him, have not been introduced and people are not aware of their existence.
To tackle the issue, the ICHHTO has launched the comprehensive tourism portal at visititan.ir which lists Iran's touristic properties. It has attracted many visitors and received positive feedback so far, Mounesan said.
"Besides, our agreement with state broadcaster is about to be finalized and we will soon advertise the places on television," he said.
Experts at ICHHTO are also working on tourism itineraries with precise timing so that people will know which places to see and estimate the possible time it would take, he added.
