War Tourism, New Attraction For Foreigners

Tehran, Sept 29, IRNA - The Sacred Defense Week is marked throughout Iran during Sept. 22-28. Every year, numerous cultural programs are held to commemorate the event. The 1980-88 Iraq-imposed war had both painful and admirable effects on Iranians. It was painful to see the sufferings unleashed by a brutal war in which Iran was pitted against the flank of global and regional powers assisting the oppressive regime of Saddam, wrote Monday's edition of 'Iran Daily'. However, the Sacred Defense was made admirable by the brave resistance put up by Iranians to protect their homeland. These memories are cherished by Iranians and forever etched in world history. It takes a long time for statesmen to remove the harmful effects of war, particularly the residents of southern cities bordering Iraq. The war also had negative environmental consequences, which will require a huge amount of efforts, time and resources to remove them. At present, demining operations in war zones continue to claim lives. The Sacred Defense Week is marked by honoring the families of martyrs and war disabled, holding exhibitions and ceremonies, and arranging visits to war zones known as Rahian-e Noor. The latter is of high interest to the new generation of Iranians and foreign visitors. The government inaugurated war museums and organized Sacred Defense Film Festival to remind the world of the war crimes committed against the Iranian people. Rahian-e Noor journeys are made by many Iranian tourists. These are also favored by foreign tourists who also get to visit the historical sites of Iran. Brigadier Yaqoub Soleimani, the head of Rahian-e Noor Organization, told Iran Daily that based on a report by experts, tourism would become the world’s leading industry by 2020. “Tourism industry can generate high revenues for nations and improve the livelihood of people,” he said. “Some 90,319 tourists visited the war zones in northwest Iran through Rahian-e Noor caravans last year,” he said. These journeys are made annually to the Persian Gulf, west (Ilam and Kermanshah), northwest (Kurdestan and West Azarbaijan), and south (Khuzestan). “Last year, 12 million people visited various parts of Iran via tours organized by Basij (volunteer forces), some of whom were foreigners,” he said. “Weekly tours are also held for pilgrims of holy shrines, of whom a majority are from Persian Gulf littoral states.” Soleimani noted that apart from environmental diversity and historical attractions of Iran, health tourism and war tourism are new fields for attracting tourists. “Iran has become one of the health tourism hubs of the region by rendering high-quality and affordable medical services in recent years,” he said. The head of Rahian-e Noor Organization said War Tourism Taskforce has been formed to organize war tourists. “War tourism is a new phenomenon and Iran could use the potential to draw war tourists in light of its infrastructures,” he said. These infrastructures have been established in the southwestern province of Khuzestan as well as the western and northwestern areas of Kurdestan. “Some 105 accommodation sites, including hotels and suites, have been established to accommodate Rahian-e Noor tourists,” he said. In view of the agreement reached by Iran with neighboring nations on issuing pilgrimage visas to regional pilgrims, Soleimani hoped that the number of religious tourists would rise in the near future./end