Tourism and priorities for development

The director of the Sustainable Tourism Association in South Khorasan said: The lack of favorable conditions on the roads of the province and the lack of necessary capacity for tourists in flights are among the most important infrastructure problems of tourism.

Ahmad Kashani stated in an interview with ISNA under the pretext of tourism day: South Khorasan is the third largest province of the country; We have 11 cities and almost every city has a beautiful, pristine and unique desert.

He stated that the desert appears to be a dry area with no water and grass, and it may be thought that the desert is an area where there is no wildlife and life, adding: The desert is a very important area from the point of view of economy and environment. Is.

The director of the Sustainable Tourism Association stated: The first point in facing this pristine region is the lack of recognition of South Khorasan’s tourism capacities for managers in the province and for people all over the world. If we can introduce the province’s tourism capabilities, many problems will be solved.

Kashani stated that it is not an exaggeration to say that today tourism is one of the economic drivers for the province, and added: Now the issue of tourism is one of the important drivers due to its capacities and capabilities.

He said: If we look at the numbers and statistics of tourism and attractions, we will find more than 950 works registered in the national heritage list of the country, which is not a small number. In order to register each of them, competitors were pushed aside and defended for hours and managed to surpass the competitors, which is not an easy task.

Pointing out that the three works registered in the UNESCO world heritage is an amazing number, Kashani continued: South Khorasan was recognized as an independent province since 1984, and on the other hand, the history of the establishment of the neighboring provinces may go back to 50 years and the number of registered works Those provinces may not have the number of South Khorasan.

Stating that we have provinces that have not yet been able to register a work in UNESCO, he clarified: UNESCO, as an international authority, monitors works and registering a work goes through difficult and heavy steps. Lut Desert was the first natural heritage of the country registered in UNESCO, an important part of which is in South Khorasan province and its villages.

Referring to the registration of Balde Ferdous aqueduct and Akbariyeh Birjand, Kashani said: In the field of handicrafts, only two villages in the country are members of the World Handicrafts Council, one village in Sistan and Baluchistan and one village in South Khorasan called Khorashad. It shows the capacity of tourism and unique handicrafts of South Khorasan.

The main challenge of tourism

He stated that our main challenge today is to introduce and of course we should not neglect the introduction of cultural and economic achievements in the field of tourism, he clarified: if these achievements are explained to the people and managers, tourism can bring a great economy and the economic chain to form as an industry.

This tourism activist continued: It may be interesting for people, from taxis that provide services to hotels, eco-tourism lodges and even the market for the supply of local souvenirs, the main links of the tourism chain and tourism tours, travel agencies, tour guides and museums are other links that They establish a large economic chain.

Kashani stated that villagers, local food, handicrafts and even their houses are part of this wide chain; Therefore, tourism and paying attention to it can benefit many people and increase arrivals to villages, he stated: This is the first achievement of paying attention to this field; The next achievement is the cultural achievement that although South Khorasan is a newly established province, it was an ancient land and was once a place for the entry and exit of Indian traders and the birthplace of many scientists and Avars.

He stated that the presence of Shoktiye school in the heart of Birjand’s historical fabric shows this, and added: The presence of historical mosques and Hosseiniyeh shows that religious scholars have lived in this province for a long time.

Stating that the heart of the historical context of Birjand can be seen in the historic Chahardrakht mosque, Kashani added: This mosque dates back to the Safavid era and has a very beautiful architecture. The nave of the mosque has many columns and traditional and religious ceremonies and ancient rituals have been held in it since long ago.

Referring to the existence of other historical mosques in Birjand and the cities of the province, he clarified: Besides this mosque, there are mosques such as Khizr Nabi, Ashura, and Khwajah, and a total of 14 historical mosques are located within the historical context of Birjand.

The director of the Sustainable Tourism Association added: In the city of Sarayan, as one of the middle cities of the province, there is a very magnificent Jame Mosque, which dates back to the Safavid era, and there are very beautiful moqrans in the mihrab and porch of this mosque. Jame Khosef Mosque, which experienced the Timurid era, is considered a gathering place for people in various rituals.

He stated: Qain Grand Mosque, which is 700 years old and has a unique architecture in its heart, is one of the most important historical mosques of this province. Effin Jame Mosque is located in the heart of the world’s barberry gardens and has a stone architecture and is more than 700 years old and has been the subject of many travelogues.

Stating that the Sidi Mosque in the historical city of Tun in Ferdows is another mosque that dates back to the Timurid era, Kashani said: “Also, there are about 56 Hosseiniehs in the area of ​​the lower castle of the city, which include the Kebabiha Hosseinieh, the Goud Hosseinieh, and the Imam Reza Hosseinieh.” (AS) and Nawab’s Hosseiniyeh are among the old Hosseiniyehs.

Tourism and invisible exports

He stated that the presence of scientific and cultural figures in South Khorasan for a long time shows the rich culture of the province, which can be introduced with the arrival of tourists so that they can be the cultural ambassadors of the province in their city and country to tell about these capacities, he clarified: if foreign tourists are ambassadors The culture of the province exports the contents of this province.

Kashani said that in the field of tourism, we believe in invisible export, and continued: It means that we take dollars from foreign tourists, we show them our hospitality, kindness, and our deep culture and history.

What are the important duties of tour guides?

In the definition of tour guides as an important part of the tourism body, this tourism activist stated: a tour guide has a very specific definition in the Ministry of Tourism, and it is someone who has completed the necessary and sufficient training in the field of tourism and in the field of tourism subjects, and then in The comprehensive test is accepted and the official tour guide card is received from the Ministry of Tourism; Tour guides are classified according to their type of activity, and cultural, historical, and nature tourism cards are issued to them, who play an important role in organizing tourism tours and transferring culture.

Kashani stated: We believe that tourism does not cause cultural invasion, but it causes the export of culture. In this section, the correct explanations are made by the tour guides, and if these points are explained by the tour guides, the transfer of culture is formed correctly. In South Khorasan, we have about 10 guides with cards, which are a small number, and we believe that interested young people should take specialized courses. Now, the applied science center of Jihad University of the province has an active field for interested people; Therefore, we are also growing in the academic field.

He stated that we need expert guides and the number of tour guides with Toha is limited to the extent of the province. It includes a part of the cities and villages of the province, so the security of the transportation routes within the province must be ensured.

Winding roads for tourism

Kashani continued: For example; The access route from Nehbandan to Dehsalam, which also has the capacity to receive tourists, and especially among foreign tourists, Europeans are interested in visiting these areas, is undesirable, and to access the village of Dehsalam, there is no other choice but to cross the road from Nehbandan to Dehsalam, and this road is a road It is a narrow transit that is very difficult for traffic.

Referring to the undesiredness of the access route to Beshrouye from the direction of Ferdous and Tabas, Kashani clarified: Beshroe is one of the most beautiful cities of clay and mud in the world, and tourists must cross a dangerous road to reach this city, so the roads must be repaired and reconstructed.

He stated that another point is that we are approaching the barberry harvesting season, and added: Agricultural tourism is one of the important branches of tourism, but the access route to Efin village, as a village with the largest seedless barberry fields in the world, is a very dangerous road that requires to review.

Kashani continued: In order to reach South Khorasan and the center of the province, if we consider the accumulation of tourists in Tehran; More than 80% of foreign tourists enter Tehran, and on the other hand, we have a land distance of more than 120 kilometers from the capital, which is not suitable for tourists at all. On the other hand, in our province, we only have a railway station in Tabas, and unfortunately, the carriage of the Tehran-Tabas train does not have the conditions of the province, although we have very high-quality carriages in the country that are being serviced.

He added: On the other hand, Birjand airport flights are not at all suitable for tourists; The number of flights was very low and now the number of flights of Birjand airport and its fleet is sufficient for a part of the province to solve their problems by traveling to Tehran. These flights have the capacity for provincial managers and some patients and doctors to attend provincial hospitals and economic activists and investors, and there are no empty seats for tourists.

Kashani clarified: From the beginning of the year until today, we witnessed that one of the airlines canceled its flights during all official holidays and during Nowruz, which is the season in which travel days are determined according to the letter that this company announced to the province from From March 28th to April 13th, due to the increase in trips, even the travel service headquarters is formed, this company cancels its flights on the Tehran-Birjand-Tehran route, and this is the main complaint in the field of tourism from the managers.

Stating that Iran is always our homeland and serving the homeland is always sacred for us, he clarified: Everyone in the country works in Sankri and we chose the tourism industry. It is true that the situation in the country is difficult, but during the difficult period of the spread of Corona, when the tourism industry in the world was paralyzed, we went through difficult times and we asked the world not to travel to Iran; At that time, we had to stay with the medical staff and even during that period, we did not give up on tourism activities.

He said: The difficult conditions of the Corona era helped us to be able to work in the field of content production to introduce the province and its unknown capacities so that we can publish it today, and in this regard, the media had a great help in publishing these contents.

He said: Today, we are working with all our might in the field of tourism and we believe that tourism can export the country’s security and the rich culture of the people of this country and the rich history of the people of this land, and on the other hand, the new minister of tourism looks at tourism with the same attitude Instead of hiding problems, try to solve them; Therefore, despite the challenges, we are trying to solve them so that we can objectify the economic aspect of tourism.