Responsible Travel in Iran

The story of our journeys and our interest in “responsible travel in Iran” go back to 2004 when we began our expedition to all around Iran. First, the classic route and then to less known areas. Why? Because our sense of adventure craved more and more. The more we saw, the more we wished to discover. For years, we were both studying and exploring. We wanted to discover the hidden gems; the mighty mountains, majestic valleys, historic villages, truly pristine nature, the indigenous people, etc. Back then, we were just adventure seekers who wished to make our dreams come true. We traveled everywhere because ‘they were there’.[George Mallory; ‘why did you want to climb Mount Everest?’ ‘Because it’s there’]

After a while, we found locals and their singular culture even more appealing. For the following years, we were mostly in villages among the locals. At first, everything was going fine; we were running the development projects, and the locals were helping us. But, when we stayed more with them, the fantasy world we had in mind faded way, and the grim reality emerged. We noticed how sometimes some well-intended efforts might turn out to have negative effects on local people’s life. More important, how locals are being affected by the inattentive behaviors of visitors and tourists. That was an epiphanic moment for us. We noticed how a tourist’s seemingly neutral talk of her wedding party from a developed country could be thoroughly damaging to a young local girl who has been in a small village since she was born.

So, it was like a wake-up call. This and some other concerns helped us make our mindset. Although at first, we just wished to live up to our adventurous creed, now we wanted something more as well. After years of knowing the locals, travelers, and their mutual interactions, we gradually came up with some simple but important principles for our trips.

• Not just visiting, but living with locals.
• Having the least effects on communities.
• Preservation of the indigenous people & their cultures.
• Preservation of the Mother Earth.
• Last but not least, locals have a say in the decision-making process. Plus, they must have a fair share of everything.

No doubt these days, people travel around the world much easier than the past. So it goes without saying how vital it is to leave no trace when we leave a place. We’ve got to wake up to the fact that we have to be responsible both to nature & people. Otherwise, we’d face devastating long-term effects.
Iran benefits from diverse and rich cultures and environments; that’s why it has become one of the main attractions for those who wish to experience its unique, authentic beauties. When we say, we seek to be ‘responsible’ or improve ‘responsible and sustainable tourism in Iran’, we wish to let the future travelers enjoy what we are experiencing now by having the least possible effects on people and nature.

During the years, we were traveling all around Iran. We got to know more about the way we can practice ‘responsible traveling in Iran’. Little by little, we came up with some basic principles and guidelines both for ourselves and our partners. Now, as an ethical travel company that is offering incoming tours for foreigners, we are pioneering the ‘responsible and sustainable tourism’ in Iran. We know we have a long concerning long way to take, but we are determined to reach the goals we’ve set for ourselves. We know a holistic approach is needed to promote responsible tourism in Iran, and we have projects to promote the concept among other stakeholders including policymakers. But, more importantly, we firmly believe one of the pillars of IranAmaze must be based on the principles of ‘responsible traveling in Iran’ to make this land a responsible travel destination.

Respecting destinations and local culture

To know the world better, we need to have a better understanding of the people, their culture, and where they live. And the best way would be by seeing, engaging, and living with different people. As a guest in destinations, and as an Iran responsible tour operator, we care about our cultural interaction with local communities.

Preserving the environment

We care about the environment, but as a developing country, Iran is facing lots of environmental problems such as environmental pollution, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and water crises. So, as an eco-friendly travel agency, we are doing our best to have a limited impact on the environment and reduce the negative impacts whenever possible.

Supporting local people and economies

What we really seek to do is to empower the locals and help them prosper. By involving locals in our destinations, we are trying to share the benefits of the tourism industry with the local community by creating more job opportunities for them. In fact, the money goes into circulation in Iran’s economy and benefits the locals in general.

Promoting Responsible Travel in Iran

We know we need to take care of our finite planet. We know how limited our resources are. We wish to use less and to make more. As a small independent Iran responsible travel company that is offering private and small-group tours, our impact is so limited. But as a pioneering responsible travel company in Iran, we are promoting the concept of sustainable tourism and responsible traveling in Iran, among different stakeholders to increase our positive impact.

Iran Responsible travel events

Responsible travel and sustainable tourism in Iran are relatively new concepts. By organizing events, we want to make these concepts known to stakeholders such as policymakers, travel agencies, students, NGOs, hotels, tourists. Moreover, we will try to advertise these events on media to heighten our influence. These events would be held with the cooperation of our partners like the School of Sustainable Development.

Promoting sustainable practices for hotels

As a tour operator, hotels with high standards of sustainability are on our priority list. However, we found zero hotels in Iran to meet the required criteria. So, we came up with the result that as our first step, we need to promote green hoteling in some of the hotels we work with. In other words, what we need to do is to have some meetings with them so that we can provide them with the related content about the desired practices and measures concerning responsible and sustainable tourism in Iran.

Funding research projects for promoting responsible travel in the policy area of Iran

As I am writing this, a bill passed in the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Iranian parliament) to establish a new ministry for tourism. At this stage, we firmly believe that it is necessary to inform the policymakers of the importance of responsible and sustainable tourism in Iran. With the help of our prestigious partner, Sharif Policy Research Institute, we like to have an impact on tourism policy in Iran.