Ardabil is the capital of Shiite tourism

Ardabil province has the ability to become the capital of religious and Shiite tourism due to its role in the birth and development of Shiism and its fame in religious rituals and the resulting culture in the society. Tourism attractions in the world include a large collection of tangible and intangible works. includes. This collection is so extensive that it is simply impossible to name and categorize them. You may choose a region as your travel destination for any reason. In the meantime, cultures, rituals and traditions are also one of the attractive factors for tourists, especially if there is an emotional proximity between the tourist and the culture of the travel destination.

Religious places and rituals and its attractions are one of the factors that attract tourists in Islamic countries and even in other religions. Since ancient times, we have heard that elders and families used to go on pilgrimage and religious journeys in any way, even the journeys that were done on foot or with the help of quadrupeds so that the pilgrims reach their destination. In the meantime, what attracts the most attention is the importance of pilgrimage and religious trips, and the placement of this type of tourism among the most popular types of tourism. A point that emphasizes the importance of focusing on this type of tourism.

At the beginning of examining this type of tourism, religious tourism should be defined more precisely, this type of tourism cannot be considered just equivalent to pilgrimage and pilgrimage trips. In pilgrimage, you go to the holy religious place of your religion. For example, Shiites go to the shrine of Imam Reza (a.s.) in the city of Mashhad to make a pilgrimage and perform religious activities. But in religious tourism, a Muslim may travel to another city to visit a historical church. In this type of tourism, the purpose of the trip is not only pilgrimage and performing religious acts, but includes a wider range of religious trips. For example, attending a religious conference, cultural-religious events, and performing music concerts and religious drama programs are considered as religious tourism, also the ruling culture of a society due to the prevalent religion in that area can be a reason to travel. The presence of non-Muslim foreign tourists to visit Iranian mourning during the month of Muharram is an example of this type of tourism.

Ardabil province, with its background in religious issues and due to its reputation as the origin of Shiism, has a special place among those who are interested in Ahl al-Bayt (PBUH). The mourning of Ardabilites during the month of Muharram and their special interest in Hazrat Abul Fazl (PBUH) is special and common, in such a way that many devotees travel to Ardabil in the first decade of Muharram and even on days such as Arbaeen Hosseini and other religious occasions. witness the mourning rituals of Ardabilis and participate in this ceremony. The multiplicity of religious rituals in Ardabil is also one of the important potentials to attract tourists, so that Ardabil province has only 11 Ashura intangible heritage registered in the list of national monuments. Also, due to the fact that Ardabil is the origin of Safavid and Shiite religion in Iran, many people, especially from the Alevi population of Turkey and Europe, are interested in visiting Ardabil and visiting the tomb of Shah Ismail Safavid. All these issues remind us that we can focus more on this type of tourism than before and provide the conditions for the presence of religious tourists in the province, so that Ardabil is the capital of Shiite tourism in the country.

The thing that is necessary for the development of this type of tourism is attention and planning for it. A relatively successful example of this type of religious tourism, regardless of the cities where the graves of the religious leaders are located, can be seen in the city of Yazd. Every year during the month of Muharram, tourists from different countries come to visit and participate in the mourning of the people of Yazd. They travel to Yazd. The interesting point in this case is the provision of suitable conditions in some of the hosseiniyehs and tekkehs of this city to welcome foreign tourists, even in some cases translators who are proficient in religious matters are also present in these hosseiniyehs and provide necessary information to the tourists about the rituals held. present.

In addition, in the field of tourism, timing and planning are of particular importance, it is very important that you can use the opportunities that arise to attract the maximum number of tourists, for example, the peak of tourists in Ardabil province related to holidays throughout the year, to It is especially during Nowruz and summer holidays, therefore, the days of Muharram, considering the holidays of Tasua and Ashura days, seem to be a suitable time to attract religious tourists; On the other hand, presenting a positive image of the tourist destination is also one of the important issues in tourism, by showing the attractions of religious rituals, even foreign tourists should be invited to come to Ardabil, experience these rituals more concretely and turn Ardabil into the capital of Shiite tourism.