TEHRAN – Isfahan’s cultural heritage chief on Tuesday called for a new look towards presenting handicrafts to foreign travelers as he initiated a campaign for designing elegant packs for handmade products.

“We should cater for the tastes of abundant international travelers who come to visit Isfahan,” Fereydoun Allahyari said in an address to artisans and packaging companies.

“Today, Isfahan is a top destination for inbound travelers. So, we need to recognize their interests and tastes more than ever in the arena of cultural tourism.”

Over the past couple of years, several officials, experts and artisans had warned about Persian handicrafts, which neither enjoy appropriate packaging nor branding.

“We believe that if we want to have a strong presence in the global markets, we should identify the needs of tourists and even their nature of travels,” the official added.

Highlighting main principals of the suitcase trade, he added “The necessity of designing a suitable and easily-portable packages, proportionate to the value of artistic products, is now felt more than ever.”

Profusion of tree-lined boulevards, abundant Persian gardens and important Islamic buildings give Isfahan an unmatched visual appeal while its ubiquitous artisans underpin its reputation as a living museum of traditional culture.

Handicrafts exports from Iran hit a record high over the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-July 22, 2017) with 45.4 percent growth in contrast to the same period a year earlier, the organization announced in September.

AFM/MQ/MG