TEHRAN— Sepidan in Fars province is a city whose vast tourism potential has encouraged provincial officials to put on their agenda to introduce it as a special tourism area in southern Iran.

Sepidan is located 65 kilometers west of Shiraz. It boasts tall and green trees, mountains, and roaring springs. 

It is a destination for many domestic tourists as well as foreign sightseers, particularly from the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.

Pointing to the specific altitudes of Sepidan and its proximity to the equator, Amin Salahi, a tourism activist, believes that Sepidan’s surrounding mountains feed three major basins and rivers of Karoun, Fahliyan, and Kor. 

Salahi, who is also a proficient mountain climber, said that about 30 peaks with a height of over 3,000 meters receive the snow and rain of these three watersheds from the sky.

This city boasts the southernmost ski resorts in Northern Hemisphere. Over 70 percent of days suitable for skiing are sunny and without wind.

He continued that there are houses in Ardakan and many Sepidan’s villages that can turn into ecotourism sites. The existence of brick and stone buildings in which various handicrafts are created, displays a beautiful tourism image of this city. 

The prerequisite for tourism prosperity in Sepidan city is training and promoting the culture of tourism to people and visitors, he said. 

Also, Sepidan governor said the city boasts over 35 tourism zones. Ali Alizadeh added that one of the most important issues for tourism development in Sepidan is to attract domestic and foreign investors. 

In case that investors are involved in Sepidan, he said, tourists are provided with pleasant services.

Tourism prosperity will lead to economic growth, drop in unemployment rate, rise in income level and market boom, he added. 

Alizadeh said one of the challenges facing tourism industry of Sepidan is failure to register a tourist document. Although numerous correspondences have been conducted, but the desired result has not been achieved to turn this city into special tourism zone of southern Iran.

He called Margoon and Chikan waterfalls, Tange Marzban and Tange Morvarid, Beram Firooz Mountain, and Chellehgah recreation site as major Sepidan’s tourist regions. 

This year, Sepidan has been designated as top tourist city during Nowruz holidays, he said, adding over two million tourists have visited the tourist sites of the city in spite of cold weather during Nowruz. 

Sepidan has a population of 52,000, of whom 70 percent live in villages and the rest reside in cities of Ardakan and Homashahr. 
 

KD