Efforts underway to develop tourism sector of South Khorasan Province
The eastern province of South Khorasan, with 1,014 nationally and five internationally registered sites, can be chosen as a destination by many tourists in all seasons of the year.
However, despite having a significant number of attractions, the tourism potentials of the province have not been introduced properly.
With a diverse climate, numerous natural landscapes, historical monuments, and traditional rituals and customs, the province is situated in a strategic geographical location. But lack of a suitable infrastructure in road, rail and air transportation has caused them to remain unknown across the country and the world, IRNA wrote.
More than 2,000 historically valuable sites have been recognized in South Khorasan Province, 1,014 of which have been inscribed on Iran’s National Heritage List. Last year, Tabas, as the third Iranian geopark, received the positive vote of the UNESCO Global Geoparks Council. This caused the number of globally registered sites of the province to reach five.
Ehsan Dorostkar, an expert from South Khorasan Province’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft Organization, told IRNA that spring and the early months of autumn are the best times to travel to the region.
“In other seasons, a limited number of people arrive in this province, and only a number of passengers pass through some cities such as Tabas, Ferdous and Nehbandan to go to other provinces,” he said.
“However, adopting new strategies would help us encourage them to stay longer in this province.”
He continued that a number of plans have been devised to help realize the target, and thanks to the efforts taken by the provincial officials, the National Barberry Festival was held in the province in October of 2022.
“We prepared a number of travel packages before the festival and sent them to the province’s tourism agency. This helped increase the arrival of tourists to the province,” Dorostkar noted.
He noted that some fruitful steps were taken in the field of tourism marketing last year, for example, a number of multilingual video clips were prepared to be distributed in target countries.
Foreign tourists are looking for the world’s highest and hottest spots, etc. Tabas Geopark and Lut Desert, the globally registered natural sites of the province, have the required conditions to draw tourists with special interests.
Lut Desert has recently been recorded as the hottest place on Earth, with temperatures reaching up to 73.5°C.
He noted that unique handicrafts produced in the province are categorized among the outstanding tourist attractions of South Khorasan Province.
Dorostkar said that efforts should be made to introduce the traditional rituals and customs of the province in the best possible manner.
Referring to the significant role played by the municipalities in the development of the tourism sector, he said this will help preserve the cultural heritage of the province and generate sustainable income resources for the local people.
“Local communities of the province should be prepared culturally to host tourists; this would pave the way for them to benefit from the tourism industry,” he concluded.
South Khorasan produces more than 60 percent of the world’s saffron. Other products of the province include barberry and jujube. Planting saffron, using old traditional methods, has been common in this province since ancient times.