TEHRAN—Iran’s Qom province, located 125 kilometers south of Tehran, has arranged special tours of its nomadic tribes.

The tours will be held over a week starting from September 27, which marks World Tourism Day, CHTN reported on Thursday.

“We are set to organize tours of nomadic zones in Qom aimed to highlight their lifestyle and help boost local economies by generating income for nomadic people,” a local official explained. 

The scheme provides an opportunity for tourists to spend some time with nomads and to discover their routine, customs, ceremonies, and dialect and to visit and buy their handicrafts and products, the official noted.

Nowadays, 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.

To put it another way, a lot of urban dwellers favor rural travel to take advantage of a relaxed way of life similar to “the Internet countryside.”

In contrast, traditional forms of transportation are typically booked through travel agencies. As tourists get older, more and more types of travel are welcomed by those looking for undiscovered destinations.

Iran has a lot to offer nature lovers who appreciate pristine, diverse natural resources. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is expected to award the title of "Best Tourism Villages" to many rural locations around the world, and the villages of Kharanaq, Barandaq, and Lark have been nominated.

UNWTO 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.

Needless to say, the growth of the local economy is the ultimate goal of the rise and development of the rural tourism industry, but in the long run, to enable the long-term development of the rural tourism industry, the health maintenance and growth of environmental capacity is very important.

Consequently, rural tourism is not a magic solution to the problems faced by many rural areas, but it opens up opportunities for economic progress, social and cultural development, and enhancing people’s togetherness.

AFM