TEHRAN – The newly-established Camping and Caravanning Club of Iran is scheduled to hold a car rally with an itinerary studded with a variety of tourist spots across Tehran and Semnan provinces.

Participants, in tens of campers and camper vans, will start the rally from the Niavaran Cultural-Historical Complex in northern Tehran early on Friday, passing through Sharifabad, Pakdasht, Eyvanekey, Sorkheh, and Garmsar towns before reaching the oasis city of Semnan.

Supervised by the Touring & Automobile Club of the Islamic Republic of Iran (TACI), the rally will be held under strict health protocols amid the coronavirus pandemic, the TACI announced in a press release on Monday.

The vehicles, camper vans, and related facilities will be on show at the grounds of the palace complex on Thursday. The open-air exhibit, according to organizers, seeks to promote traveling, especially rural tourism, ecotourism, and nature tourism during the pandemic and encourage tourists and people to embark on land trips using camper vans.

The coronavirus pandemic has globally decimated almost every possible travel and transportation-related business, from air travel to car sales to cruises. However, the number of people and families traditionally using camper vans has not decreased so much globally. Some camper fans say that the reason is surprisingly straightforward: camper vans are a personal and reliable way to travel, granting freedom from quarantine while still adhering to social distancing rules.

Covering an area of about eleven hectares, the Niavaran historical complex is composed of several landmark buildings, museums, and monuments constructed in the 19th and 20th centuries during the Pahlavi and late Qajar eras.

AFM/MG