TEHRAN – A workshop on rural tourism in Tehran province was held online on Saturday due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Organized by Tehran Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department, the workshop was held by Iranian scholar and tour leader Nima Azari.

The workshop aimed at promoting tourism in rural areas.

Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization said in 2018 that 2,000 eco-lodges would be constructed across the country until 2021. Experts say each eco-lodge unit generates jobs for seven to eight people on the average so that the scheme could create 160,000 jobs.

Having a very diverse natural setting, Iran offers varied excursions to nature lovers. Sightseers may live with a nomad or rural family or enjoy an independent stay. The country is home to abundant historical mansions, caravanserais, bathhouses, madrasas, and other massive monuments, which can buttress its budding tourism and hospitality sectors if managed appropriately and refurbished properly.

The World Tourism Organization sees rural tourism 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.

ABU/MG