The organizers had cited registering Lut Desert in UNESCO World Heritage List and human chain formation to protect Bam Citadel (Arg-e-Bam) among the programs of the festival. Arash Nouraghayi, who was speaking in press conference of 7th world tour guides festival last night with Iran Tourist Guides Association (ITGA) attending, told that the festival would be held jointly for the first time in Bam in the occasion of 10th anniversary of Bam earthquake. “We hold the festival in cities in order to highlight the registering of a heritage in UNESCO world heritage list, such as Tabriz or Urumia, to attract the attentions to the lake ecosystem,” he added.
“Bam had been excluded from the Iran tourist routes after the earthquake hit the city, from which Bam never recovered; while Kerman province was among the best tourist destinations in Iran,” he said.
Nouraghayi told that the festival would invite more than 700 tour guides in an attempt to revive interests in tourism with Bam as destination. He also cited Lut Desert registering in UNESCO World Heritage List as the second reason behind such festival in Bam.
Music concert in Bam Citadel
Abbas Pirmoradian, the head of Executive Board of Iran Tourist Guides Association (ITGA) told reporters that once 20 buses carried French tourists to hold music concert in Bam Citadel, but that “now Bam is not a destination for such buses,” he complained.
“ During recent years, we cooperated with Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism Organization in holding the festival; now, we have planned to hold the festival in Kerman,” he asserted.
SH/ZK
MNA
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