TEHRAN - Ramsar tourism chief has said a new travel trend is taking off across the lush green county sandwiched between the lower slopes of the Alborz Mountains and the Caspian Sea in northern Iran.

Many agricultural farms in Ramsar have high potential to be promoted as tourist destinations… And, it is a way to safeguard those lands [for future generations], Nader Saharkhiz said on Sunday.

Ramsar embraces a magnificent variety of gardens and farms and paddy fields, the official said.

Agritourism has long been an established practice in countries promoting it for many years. It is a voluntary sector beneficial both for sightseers and the local communities, the official explained.

Saharkhiz said the stay of sightseers can be prolonged in farms and gardens such as citrus, hazelnut, and cherry orchards if they are equipped with tourist facilities.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the official considered Ramsar a prosperous travel destination all year round, adding “Ramsar attracts more than one million travelers, which yields a great opportunity to retain sustainable tourism.”

In recent years, an increasing number of travelers are looking for something different such as spending a day in the tranquil countryside, picking fresh fruits, watching rice grow, fishing by the seaside, eating traditional dishes, or even staying with locals.

Iranian countryside areas have traditionally been a place of production, dominated by farming, but changes in farming practices, mechanization, and the influences of globalization have deeply affected the fabric of its rural communities, which have increasingly shifted from being production spaces to consumption spaces, in which tourism plays an important role.

The World Tourism Organization sees rural tourism as a type of activity in which the visitor’s experience is related to a wide range of products generally linked to nature-based activities, agriculture, rural lifestyle, culture, angling, and sightseeing. Such tourism also possesses characteristics such as low population density, a landscape dominated by agriculture and forestry, as well as traditional social structure and lifestyle.

The UN body aims to turn the spotlight on the “uniqueness” of each village to make tourism a means for further development in rural areas. “We want to recognize the uniqueness of each village and showcase the best initiatives to make tourism a means for a better future in rural areas. As we restart tourism, we work to ensure that we leave no one - and no village- behind,” according to UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili.

AFM