Submission of 3 Files from South Khorasan for Registration as Global Tourism Villages

According to Mirath-Aria, Hadi Shahverdi said: The files of three villages, Afin, Khor, and Chenasht, were prepared and compiled and placed on the path of candidacy for Iran's global villages. The Director-General of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts of South Khorasan added: Numerous villages in the province have the potential to be proposed at the global level, but due to the limitation in selecting three villages and because of the unique features of the selected villages such as rural texture, accessibility, access routes, cultural, historical, and natural capabilities, value chain, economic sustainability, etc., these three villages from the province have been selected and introduced. He continued: On the other hand, one of the important aspects in registering the files of these villages is the story and narrative of each village, as well as the creativity employed in their sustainable development, which are the most important criteria for creativity in Afin village, agricultural tourism and the world's seedless barberry pilot, Khor village as the secretariat of the province's gemstone, and Chenasht village as the land of colors with ancient wedding customs. Shahverdi stated: The plan for tourism target villages at the national and global levels will lead to the prosperity of tourism in the province and local development, and it is expected that the responsible authorities will cooperate in developing the infrastructure of these villages. The Director-General of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts of South Khorasan said: The files for the global villages of 2025, the final selection process of which will be carried out at the National Tourism Desk of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts, will be sent to the United Nations World Tourism Organization in May 2025. He noted: Eight villages, Esfahak in South Khorasan province, Abyaneh in Isfahan province, Kandelous in Mazandaran province, Bisheh in Lorestan province, Mimand in Kerman province, Fahraj in Yazd province, Palangan in Kurdistan province, and Qaleh Bala in Semnan province, have been selected for the global competition of 2024 and sent to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the results of which will likely be announced in November 2024, and we hope that Esfahak village will be selected as a global tourism village.