Eight Iranian villages in the list of global competition
The head of the tourism attractions and products development group of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts said: 8 villages of the country are competing to be selected as a global village by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
According to IRNA, from the Public Relations Department of Tourism of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, Mehdi Baharond said: With the formation of the global villages working group at the place of the Department of Tourism, consisting of members of the Office of Studies, Education and Tourism Planning, the Office of Domestic Tourism Development, the Research Institute of the Ministry and Also, experts in this field were selected from among all 130 villages in the country. Then, this number reached 30 villages and in the final evaluation reached 8 villages, so that by completing the file by the provincial managers and sending it to the Vice-President of Tourism by the end of June of this year, the share of the Islamic Republic of Iran to benefit from the international opportunity created by the World Tourism Organization will be preserved. .
He pointed to 8 selected villages and said: Kandavan village of East Azarbaijan province, Maimand village of Kerman, Soheili village of Hormozgan, Qasimabad village of Gilan, Kandlos village of Mazandaran, Palengan village of Kurdistan, Abyaneh village of Isfahan and Bisheh village of Lorestan are the villages that are representatives of the Islamic Republic. Iran will participate in this global competition.
Baharond reminded: The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has proposed an issue under the title of global tourism villages from 2021, and the purpose of this action is to advance the role of tourism in protecting villages. Based on this, topics such as natural, cultural, local values and activities, including gastronomy and preserving the local identity of the villages, were emphasized.
He added: Based on this, in 2021, 44 villages from 32 countries across the five regions of the world were selected and in 2022, the same number of global villages were introduced, all of them because of their natural and cultural resources, as well as innovative and transformative actions and commitment. They were chosen to develop tourism.
Baharond said: This year, the number of candidates has increased drastically, and now the total number of candidates worldwide has reached 1256 villages, and according to the experience of the past years, less than 50 of these villages will be included in the list of villages as global villages.
He pointed out: The competition has become very tough compared to previous years and we have less than one percent chance of being selected.
The head of the tourism attractions and products development group also pointed to the indicators for selecting global villages and said: having cultural resources, promotion and protection of natural resources, economic sustainability, social sustainability, environmental sustainability, development and integration of the value chain, governance and prioritization of tourism. , infrastructure and connectivity as well as health, safety and security have been among the criteria announced by the World Tourism Organization, which the said working group has approved 8 selected villages by considering them.
Baharond also explained what achievements will follow if Iranian villages can reach this global status, and said: Villages that are introduced by the World Tourism Organization will benefit from international information and advertising privileges as an outstanding example of a rural tourism destination. , such as the one featured on the UNWTO’s innovative website on the best tourism villages.
He pointed out: receiving a diploma or a plaque signed by the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization, becoming a member of the Global Villages network, and becoming a space for exchanging experiences and trainings and helping the country’s tourism growth are some of the important achievements. .
Baharond emphasized that if we can get 80 points out of 100 points, we will enter the global villages, he said: Considering that the World Tourism Organization will not send an in-person evaluator to the countries, hence the content in the space Virtual includes photos, videos, and the opinion of the audience will be one of the important selection criteria.
The head of the tourist attractions and products development group listed the duties of the 8 provincial general offices to complete the Global Villages case and said: holding a meeting with the unit related to villages in the governorate in order to cooperate in completing the infrastructure and holding related festivals, preparing promotional clips and teasers in English. Preparation of related advertising items, website design, photography of village tourist attractions, documentation of infrastructure provision, making village tourist attractions accessible to the disabled and the disabled, doing things related to environmental protection, such as ways to reduce plastic consumption, garbage collection, etc. They are considered provincially assigned executives.