TEHRAN--The third pomegranate harvest thanksgiving celebration was held in Satiari village, Paveh county, Kermanshah province, on Thursday with the attendance of several thousands of tourists.

According to Miras Aria (CHTN), Dariush Farmani, head of Kermanshah Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department, stated that one of the programs that Kermanshah Cultural Heritage Department has planned for tourism development is event-based tourism. 

He added: “We pursue several goals by organizing the event-based tourism, one of which is discussing our intangible heritage, which goes back to our beliefs, traditions, and beliefs.  We have ceremonies of specific beliefs in each region.”

“Today, the pomegranate harvest thanksgiving festival was held as a ceremony that has been registered in the country's National Heritage List as the country's intangible heritage, and one of our duties is to introduce this intangible heritage to the other parts of the country, especially to the younger generation.”

Farmani added: “With these events that we organize, and our goal is to develop tourism, several things happen that, in addition to introducing an intangible heritage, this event greatly contributes to the development of sustainable tourism in the region.”

He stated: “On the occasion of this pomegranate festival event, all the accommodation centers in Paveh city and even neighboring cities have been completely booked in the past two or three days, and the occupancy rate of our beds in the region has reached 100 percent. Therefore, holding such events both helps to preserve our national identity and recognize our identity, and can have a significant impact on development and job creation in the region.”

Farmani continued that one of the blessings of the registration of Uraman on World Heritage List that took place in 2021 is the development of tourism and the creation of development and employment that has provided for the region.

He stated that until last year, the total number of residential beds in Kermanshah province was approximately 4,400, and in the past year, 3,000 beds have been added to the province's residential beds, 80 percent of which occurred in the UNESCO-designated  Uramanat region. 

He emphasized: “Holding tourism events has motivated and created infrastructure and attracted investors to develop tourism infrastructure in the region, so we expect the people and local officials to feel responsible in introducing Uraman and preserving its architectural values, traditions and beliefs, linguistics, and anthropology, and following this global registration, we must hold global events.”

Farmani said that Kermanshah Cultural Heritage Department intends to introduce the tourism potentials of the global landscape of Uraman to the world, in addition to holding special events. 

Appreciating all those who worked hard to hold the pomegranate harvest festival, he stated that the worthy hospitality of the dear people of Iran, the guests of the event who came here from all over the country, deserves appreciation and gratitude.

KD