TEHRAN – Iran and Italy have resumed a joint project on cultural heritage, tourism, and handicrafts, which was initially launched in 2019 and subsequently interrupted due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project restarted its operational phase with a roundtable on cultural heritage promotion and responsible tourism development, held on Tuesday at the residence of the Italian Ambassador in Tehran, Giuseppe Perrone.

The program is conceived and carried out by the Italian Embassy in Iran and the Italian Trade Agency Office in Tehran in cooperation with the Italian Cooperatives Alliance and the Iranian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts.

Ambassador Perrone, in his introductory remarks, stressed the great potential for cooperation on tourism development between Italy and Iran, which can be fully tapped into as the pandemic gets contained in both countries. “Our aim is to further develop the existing strong synergies between tourism and economic development and provide momentum for the use of cutting-edge technologies in the preservation and promotion of our two countries’ cultural heritage”, he indicated.

The roundtable was attended by members of the implementing parties of both countries. The presentations were held partially in a virtual format and partially in presence in the garden of the Italian Residence. Main topics included responsible tourism and its most promising areas of development, such as historical, cultural, and health tourism, use of social media and new ICT technologies for the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage, training of human resources, and development of new tourism marketing strategies.

The next steps envisaged within the project include an Iranian mission to Italy for a visit to some of the leading Italian tourist sites and a briefing on Italian best practices. This step will be followed by the implementation of a pilot project in Iran on the so-called “Golden Triangle of Khuzestan”, which encompasses in its territory the Iranian UNESCO sites of Susa, Shushtar, and Changa Zanbol.

According to Perrone his embassy is highly responsible for depicting the richness of "so deep and so complete cultural ties", which have long been developed between the two nations. “I think because our cultural ties are so deep and so complete in every area, we do have a responsibility to showcase this richness and to tell people the story of this important connection that has always existed between Italy and Iran in different areas, so we look forward to our future projects which are going to be quite amazing as well.”

In November 2019, on the sidelines of the ceremony to mark the 60th anniversary of the joint cultural heritage, the Italian envoy said: “Italian tourists are fond of Iran because it has a natural diversity that is appealing to them. Italians are also fond of Iran’s unique antiquities.”

AFM