TEHRAN—Ministry of Cultural Heritage has conducted expert studies for 100 villages designated for global registration. At last, after choosing 50 villages as target villages in list of Best Tourism Villages, 12 villages reached final stage and their global registration dossier is being compiled.

In an effort to reduce migration of villagers to the cities, empower the local societies, women and youth and preserve the cultural and natural resources of the villages, the World Tourism Organization sought to prevent migration of rural people and boost the sustainable development of tourism  via global registration of the villages, ILNA reported. 

Only 130 villages across Iran have the preliminary capacities for being evaluated in process of global registration. The other villages have been abandoned or restored in a heterogeneous way. Even Masuleh, once as a unique village, turned into a city and lagged behind the global registration. 

Mostafa Fatemi, director-general of domestic tourism development at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, said that out of 12 villages that reached the final stage, the dossier of eight villages will be sent to the UN Tourism.

He named Darak village in Sistan-Baluchestan province, Qaleh Bala village in Semnan province, Gisoom village in Gilan province, Shaneh Tarash village in Mazandaran province, Moeel village in Ardabil province, Bisheh village in Lorestan province, Pamenar village in  Khuzestan province,  a village in Markazi province, Marin village in Kohgiluyeh-Boyerahmad province, a village in Khorasan Razavi province, Mesr village in Isfahan province,  and Afin village in South Khorasan province, as the final candidates  for 2026 whose dossiers will be sent to UN Tourism. 

He said that UN Tourism has offered nine main criteria for global registration of villages which are as follows: resources and attractions, preserving the resources and attractions, social stability such as participation of rural people, women, and formation of cooperatives, environmental stability including waste sorting, waste management, preserving rare animal species, economic stability, tourism value chain, infrastructure and communications, social and global communications, and health and safety. 

In an age marked by civilizational turbulence and the restless acceleration of globalization, the world is once again searching for meaning, balance, and authenticity.

It is no coincidence that the global gaze is turning once more toward villages — those living reservoirs of wisdom, identity, and the art of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.

The inscription of Iranian villages in list of Best Tourism Villages places Iran among a select group of nations to receive such recognition.

This milestone is more than a cultural achievement; it is a testament to the creativity of local communities, to the vitality of a culture rooted in its land, and to a vision of development grounded in heritage, identity, and ecology.

The UN Tourism selection process evaluated more than fifty indicators, spanning cultural and natural resources, social and economic sustainability, innovation, and environmental protection.

That Iran stood out among these criteria reaffirms both its ancient heritage and its modern capacity to translate culture into a dynamic engine of development.

Looking forward, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts is preparing a National Roadmap for the Global Registration of Iranian Villages, focused on infrastructure improvement, local training, and multilingual content creation — to amplify Iran’s presence and visibility in the global tourism network.

Iran, with over 60,000 villages, is not merely a geographical space; it is a living archive of human civilization — a land where history breathes, and every field, home, and river carries a memory of balance between humanity and the earth.

The global recognition of Iranian villages is not only a national success, but a cultural statement — a message from Iran to the world that genuine development springs from culture, not from external imposition; that sustainability begins with memory; and that the future of humanity depends on the wisdom of its roots.

KD