I NTE R NATI O NAL DAI LY

10 HERITAGE & TOURISM DECEMBER 20, 2018

Iran, UNWTO call for

increased cooperation
T O U R I S M TEHRAN – United Nations World Tourism
d e s k Organization Secretary-General Zurab Polo-
likashvili and Iran’s Ambassador to Spain Hassan Qashqavi have
called for increased cooperation on tourism.
The officials explored ways for deepening mutual assistance
in a Tuesday meeting in Madrid, IRNA reported.
The Iranian envoy also elaborated on Tehran’s strategic pol-
icies in the field of tourism as he pointed to existing facilities for
simplification in the visa regulations.
Active presence of Iranian companies in the FITUR tourism
trade fair and holding various cultural exhibits were among ex-
amples the Iranian official set to highlight tourism ties between
Iran and Spain.
Pololikashvili, for his part, said the UN body is ready for
contributing to development of the industry. He hailed Iran’s
tourism attractions as well.
Earlier this month, Pololikashvili held a meeting with Iran’s
Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Di-
rector Ali-Asghar Mounesan, discussing the issue of establishing
a handicrafts academy.
In November, Pololikashvili paid a visit to Iran. He made a
keynote speech at the 40th UNWTO Affiliate Members Plenary
Session held in the city of Hamedan.
Shab-e Yalda: A golden
opportunity to come together
1 Sharing traditions and customs is
a way to forge lasting connections and to
foster better mutual understanding in our
interconnected world.
A peek into the bustling streets, grocery
and confectionery stores show that people
from all walks of life are preparing in advance
to have fun.
People on Yalda Night are usually served
with fresh fruits and colorful Ajil (a mixture of
dry fruits, seeds and nuts) in floral bowls. To
Iranians, fruits are reminders of abundance
in summer. Watermelon and pomegranates,
as symbols of bounty, are the traditional fresh
fruits of this night. It is believed that eating
watermelon before the arrival of winter can
immunize the body against illness.
Following a hot dinner, many people
often recite poetry, narrate stories, chant,
play musical instruments or just chat cozily
until midnight or so.
The feast is also famous as “Shab-e-
Chelleh”, literally meaning the night of the
forty. In fact, “Shab-e-Chelleh” refers to the
Iran to host intl. conferences on
health tourism
first forty days of winter that are often the
coldest and toughest to bear.
In the ancient Iranian calendar, winter
is divided into two parts, Chelleh Bozorg
(literary meaning the bigger forty) from
22nd of December to 30th of January and
Chelleh Koochak (the smaller forty), which
starts from 30th January to 10th of March.
Narratives say that Yalda Night marks the
birth of winter and the eventual triumph of
the sun as the days grow longer. The word
Yalda, meaning birth, was imported from
Syriac into the Persian language by the Syriac
Christians.
Though it is not even an official holiday,
Yalda still stands head and shoulders above
some other ancient traditions. By the way,
television and radio programs fully cater to
it by airing special programs.
The story of Yalda may be interpreted
as a tale of courage and effort during dark-
ness, a triumph of light and human warmth
that ultimately causes the spring to bloom
in hearts.
10% slump in hotels occupancy
rate in Iran

Historic city of Mardin

enjoys tourism revival
With its historic architecture, characteristic city landscape, diverse
cuisine and a culture of coexistence of Muslims and Christians,
Mardin has become one of the fabulous tourist destinations in
Turkey, especially after calm that has replaced conflict between
the Turkish security forces and the PKK following the collapse of
a peace process in the summer of 2015. Around 3 million tourists
visited the city in the last 11 months of this year, a considerable
hike in the numbers.
A candidate awaiting registry as a UNESCO World Heritage
site, Mardin is located in Turkey’s ancient southeast overlooking
Syria and Mesopotamia’s plains. It has found a place for itself
among the most visited tourist sites in the country, as new hotels
open and replace the ones once closed down because of a decline
in the number of visitors. Despite the winter season, the streets
of Mardin are full of tourists, both domestic and international.
Numbers speak for itself. In 2016, the number of tourists was
90,000, of whom 5,000 were foreign visitors, while the figures
rose to one million, including day-trippers, in 2017. This year,
the number reached 3 million.
(Source: Hurriyet Daily News)
ROUND THE GLOBE
T O U R I S M TEHRAN – Iran will
d e s k play host to two inter-
national conferences on health tourism in
2019, a senior official with the Ministry
of Health said on Tuesday.
“The 5th Conference on Health Tourism
in Islamic Countries” and “the 2nd Con-
ference and Exhibition of Health Tourism
for Economic Cooperation Organization
(ECO) countries” will be held in the country,
said Mohammad Jahangiri who presides
over the International Healthcare Associ-
ation, Mehr reported. Started in 2010, the
northeastern city of Mashhad hosted the
four previous editions of the Conference on
Health Tourism in Islamic Countries. The
conference is mainly aimed at addressing
the challenges, upper-level strategies and
development plans for prioritizing health
tourism among the Islamic countries.
The second edition of health tourism
conference by ECO countries will be held
in the northwestern city of Ardebil, after a
gap of five years, the report added.
Back in May, the official announced that
Iran has capacity to annually earn $7 billion
in medical and health tourism, noting “the
sector now brings in only one-seventh or
even lesser of the sum.”
Lack of sufficient direct flights to some
countries, somewhat booked-up hotels in
high seasons are amongst other issues that
should be addressed, the official explained.
Tens of hospitals have so far been
granted special licenses and are running
international patient departments across
the country. Wallet-friendly and quality
treatment services are what Iran is globally
famous for when it comes to medical travels.
The 2019 Travel Risk Map, which shows
the risk level around the world, puts Iran
among countries with “insignificant risk”,
a category where the UK, Denmark, Swit-
zerland, Norway, and Finland are placed in.
T O U R I S M TEHRAN – Average
d e s k occupancy rate of Irani-
an hotels has tumbled by around ten percent
since the beginning of the current Iranian
calendar year (March 21) in comparison
to the same period last year, head of Iran
Hotel Association has said.
“Though the number of Iraqi passengers
to Iran has increased but the matter is
that they [usually] prefer private lodging
houses to hotels,” Jamshid Hamzezadeh
told ISNA. Tourism statistics that the Cul-
tural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism
Organization provides are very general
and they do not include stays in hotels,
Hamzezadeh explained.
“Therefore, we cannot talk about ap-
proving or denying the tourism statistics of
the country but surveys and reports from
hotels show 10 percent decrease in occu-
pancy rates from beginning of the year
up to now compared to the same period
last year.”
“In the previous year, we experienced
the same year-on-year decline as well,”
he added.
Some 2 million Iraqi nationals visited
Iran during the first seven months of the
year, turning the country into Iran’s largest
source of tourists, said CHHTO deputy
director Vali Teymouri earlier this month.
Iran played host to over 4.7 million
travelers during the 7-month period, he
added.
People from Iraq, Republic of Azer-
baijan, Afghanistan, Turkey and Pakistan
constituted the highest travelers to Iran
respectively that visited the country for
medical, pilgrimage and cultural heritage
purposes, Teymouri explained.
Experts say U.S.-led sanctions against
Iran along with Dramatic changes in the
value of rial [the Iranian currency] have had
a significant impact on the tourism sector.

Antique town of Tyre Works to relocate historical mosque in Hasankeyf continue

Works to relocate the last section of the 610-year-old Eyyubi “Works are continuing for the artifacts not to be damaged tation of the other historical artifacts and the protection of
Located on the southern coast of Lebanon, 83 km south of
Mosque (or K?zlar Mosque) in southeastern Turkey to its due to the [flood] waters. The ancient artifacts will come the immobile ones in their place.
Beirut, the antique town of Tyre was the great Phoenician city
new site have started. together in the [Hasankeyf] Culture Park near the new res- The transportation process has already been completed
that reigned over the seas and founded prosperous colonies
The relocation is taking place to prevent the historical idential area,” said Hasankeyf Mayor Abdulvahap Kusen. for a number of artifacts including Zeynel Bey Shrine, ?mam
such as Cadiz and Carthage and according to legend, was the
mosque from flooding when a new dam opens in the Hasan- The ancient town of Hasankeyf will soon be submerged Abdullah Zaviye (a small Islamic monastery), Artuklu Bath,
place of the discovery of purple pigment.
keyf district of the Batman province. by the floodwaters of Turkey’s fourth biggest dam. and Orta Kap?.
From the 5th century BC, when Herodotus of Halicar-
As part of the relocation works, some buildings located Accordingly, authorities are moving the town’s historical Hasankeyf, 32 kilometers southeast of the provincial
nassus visited Tyre, it was built for the most part on an
on the road through which the last section of the mosque, artifacts. Critics opposing the dam’s construction, however, capital Batman, was declared a conservation area in 1981.
island reportedly impregnable, considered one of the old-
weighing 2,500 tons, will be transported have been demolished. have said the dam will destroy a history spanning centuries. There are nearly 6,000 caves around the town that contain
est metropolises of the world, and according to tradition
The other three parts of the ancient mosque were previ- Following a two-kilometer transportation of the 650-year- the remnants of Christian and Muslim worship, as well as
founded in 2750 BC.
ously transported to the new Hasankeyf Culture Park above old Zeynel Bey Shrine to the Hasankeyf New Cultural Park a Byzantine fortress.
the water line. Field in 2017, works have been continuing for the transpor- (Source: Hurriyet Daily News)

Five strategies for stress-free travel

Crumbling archaeological ruins in the ancient city of Tyre,
Lebanon
Tyre succumbed to the attack of Alexander of Macedonia
who had blocked the straits by a dike. First a Greek city, and
then a Roman city were constructed on this site, which is
now a promontory.
Tyre was directly associated with several stages in the his-
tory of humanity, including the production of purple pigment
reserved for royalty and nobility, the construction in Jerusalem
of the Temple of Solomon, thanks to the material and architect
sent by the King Hiram of Tyre; and the exploration of the
seas by hardy navigators who founded prosperous trading
centers as far away as the western Mediterranean, that ulti-
mately assured a quasi-monopoly of the important maritime
commerce for the Phoenician city. The historic role of Tyre
declined at the end of the period of the Crusades.
The site of the town comprises important archaeological
vestiges such as baths, a residential quarter and a cathedral.
(Source: UNESCO)
By Geoffrey Morrison
Keep these tips in mind for your next trip and you’ll travel
more smoothly, spend more time enjoying your destination,
and maybe even relax a little more.
I travel a lot. I spend months every year living and working
around the world. I’ve also fine-tuned my process so that I
feel as comfortable on the road as I do at home.
But it wasn’t always this way. Like most people, I used
to take once-a-year vacations, with a massive suitcase and
a rigid itinerary, hopping from hotel to hotel stressed about
train connections and tour reservations.
It was all unnecessary stress on the two weeks a year I
was supposed to be relaxing. So while working for years as
a digital nomad, I’ve figured out a few ways to minimize that
stress. Here are a few of them.
Pack less
I’ve spent 4 and a half months away from home with a
backpack barely larger than a carry-on suitcase. I’ve met men
and women that pack far less (most of my luggage bulk is
work related). If you’re gone for more than a week, budget a
few hours to do laundry, or a few dollars to pay for a laundry
service. Being more mobile is wonderfully freeing. If you’re
not sure what to leave behind, we have some suggestions.
Plan less
This is another seemingly counterintuitive tip, but if you
plan less you’ll be less stressed. Sure, having a per-second
itinerary may seem like a gift for your future vacation self,
but once there you’re going to feel rushed and anxious about
making your next stop.
Sure, keep a list of things you want to do, but allow for
lots of flexibility. You’re not going to see everything, so enjoy
what you can and don’t rush. Less planning allows you to
stay longer in spots you like, and leave early from places
you don’t.
Slow down
This is a hard one. It may come across preachy and I’m
sorry, but cramming 15 cities into 14 days is going to make
you miserable. I try to spend at least three days in each place.
That gives you enough time to get the feel and decide if you
want to stay, or go somewhere else. Everyone has their own
best pace, but if you’re changing accommodations every
other day, you’re going to be exhausted.
Keep your phone working
Turn off your work email and notifications, but keep
your internet access. Google Maps, Google Translate, travel
booking sites, plus messenger apps to keep in touch with
people at home will all be at your fingertips.
If you have Sprint, T-Mobile, or Google Fi, your phone
will probably work outside the US much as it does at home.
AT&T and Verizon may not, and can be expensive to use
outside the US. For tips to make the transition seam-
less, check out this guide to using your phone overseas
at Wirecutter.
Install the right apps
I only have a handful of what I would call “travel” apps
that I can’t do without. Google Maps and Translate are ob-
vious ones. Both also largely work offline, if you download
certain content ahead of time.
Booking apps like Booking, Orbitz, Hostelworld, and so
on are handy too. One very useful service is Rome2Rio. The
app can help you get virtually anywhere from anywhere, by
whatever means available: Bus, ferry, train or airplane. It
offers a far more complete look at available travel options
and their costs than even Google Maps. When you’re trying
to get from Thessaloniki to Dubrovnik or from Hakodate to
Nagano, it’s invaluable.
(Source: The New York Times)