A summer festival is planned in Tehran to introduce tourist attractions of all 31 provinces of the country to prospective tourists. Titled "Chaharsouq", the event is in fact a competition among the provinces, giving each region the opportunity to prove itself eligible to be visited by more travelers, CHTN reported.
According to Mohammad Moheb-Khodaei, heritage deputy at Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, the festival is to be accompanied by summer discounts offered by hotels, guesthouses and residential spaces all in line to boost domestic tourism.
Gamut of Opportunities
"Being offered a wide gamut of travel possibilities, the travelers can enjoy low-cost, quality trips all through the country after choosing their favorite destination," Moheb Khodaei said.
Each province will have at least a night to introduce its cultural and historical attractions through various media, including video clips, brochures and relevant artistic or musical performances in the capital's Milad Tower.
Enthusiasts will also become acquainted with unique hand-made artworks and souvenirs of each province and will be able to shop with discounts. The official emphasized that thanks to ICHHTO policies, a notion has been reinforced in the country that tourism industry is an untapped potential, capable of creating job opportunities and oiling the wheels of local economy especially in lesser-known places and small villages.
"Tourism can help create a sustainable source of income for the local people," Moheb-Khodaei said.
Novel Concept
Also pointing to the rather newly proposed concept of tourist city, the official said it can help realize the ultimate goal of attracting more tourists to domestic destinations.
A tourist city is defined as a city in which urban development projects, such as improvements in security and transportation infrastructures, are aimed at visitors as well as residents.
This means that the preferences of the visiting population are taken into consideration as well.
Reportedly, Yazd was introduced as a pilot tourism city last year, based on a memorandum of understanding that was signed between Yazd Municipality and ICHHTO.
Abyaneh Village in Kashan, Isfahan Province, and Masouleh in Gilan Province are already small models of the same scheme.
All the efforts are meant to wean Iran off oil revenues by boosting domestic tourism as an alternative source of economic growth.
