The 15th Mashhad International Tourism Fair held simultaneously with the ninth Handicrafts Fair in Khorasan Razavi Province came to a close on Thursday. The four-day cultural events, were attended by hotels, travel agencies and investors as well as artisans from different provinces in over 176 stalls, CHTN reported. According to Abolfazl Mokarramifar, head of the provincial office of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, this year's events were exceptionally lively and active. "The hand-made works of art in numerous fields were specially spotlighted reflecting the fact that the artisans have bridged the gap between the art of old times and that of today," the official said. There are reportedly 300 identified fields of handicraft arts, only 30 of which have so far vanished. Pointing to the significant weakness of the events, Mokarramifar said unfortunately Iranian traditional architecture was not featured as it deserves. "This is while ecolodges which reflect the local color in the structure have proven to be more attractive for the travelers who are fed up with modern skyscrapers." Some 28 provinces, 13 selected counties, six internationally and nationally recognized tourist cities together with representatives of 86 fields of handicrafts had attended the events.
