KERMAN – On May 21st, Ecolodge’s first national celebration brought in around 600 ecolodge managers, travel insiders and media representatives from around the country.
Not only a gathering of tourism stakeholders, the event marked a powerful declaration that Iranian cultural identity is alive and thriving within the countryside heartland.
The festival, held under the theme of “From the center of the earth to the soul of Iran,” according to the organizers, marked the vibrant and diverse world of Iranian Bomegardis. A local eco lodge that is more than a place to stay.
Deeply ingrained in family-owned communities, these facilities offer travelers a unique opportunity to experience authentic village life, traditional hospitality and indigenous knowledge that has been handed down through generations.
Today, with over 3,700 registered ecolodges nationwide, the Bomegardi movement has created a national network that not only supports sustainable tourism, but also contributes to cultural conservation, community empowerment and rural development. In many villages in ancient countries, ecolodges breathed new life into abandoned homes, regaining lost crafts and revitalizing local pride.
Beyond tourism
Speakers at the event, particularly the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Crafts, Seyed Reza Salehi Amiri and Yabar Abiri of the Iranian Ecolodge Association, both emphasized that ecolodges are not merely economic activity. It is essentially a cultural ecosystem. As the Minister appropriately said, eco-lodging is “a living extract of Iranian civilization,” where food, clothing, architecture, dialects, crafts and hospitality are gathered in the ongoing act of cultural revival.
For many Iranian villagers, ecolodges offer more than income. They serve as a reason to stay, return and rebuild. By reversing the trends in rural-to-urban migration, ecolodges have created local jobs, inspire micro-businesses, and preserved traditional knowledge that was on the brink of disappearing.
Symbolicity, solidarity, and shared vision
The festival at Carman was as iconic as it was strategic. The event aims to extend the footprint in areas rich in historic landmarks from Leiencitadel and Shazde Gardens to Bamcitadel and Karuto in the Shadad Desert, and showcase the intersections of communities that define heresy, landscapes and eco-lodges in vast countries.
Highlights of the event included the arrival of a specially designed train from Tehran to Karman. It was decorated with traditional Iranian motifs, according to the organizers, and was intended to represent cultural journeys around the country.
It also involved international “spic route” food and cultural exhibitions that linked Iranian cuisine and ethnic diversity with global tourism stories.
Heading towards the global stage
Perhaps the most important takeaway from a celebration is what it signs for the future. As Abiri pointed out, this is not merely a memorable event, but the “beginning of a long, purposeful path to global recognition of Iranian ecolodges.” The official registration of national ecolodge days on the Iranian calendar is not iconic. This is a step towards institutional awareness, policy support and international cooperation in the field of sustainable community-based tourism.
Eco Lodge as an Identity Manager
The first national celebrations of Iranian ecolodges serve as a great reminder that tourism becomes a powerful force for revitalization when rooted in local culture and driven by the local community. Bomegardis is not only a redefine hospitality, but also a protector of cultural continuity, ambassadors of Iran’s diversity, and a catalyst for rural resilience.
As global interest in meaningful, sustainable travel continues to grow, Iranian ecolodges may emerge as a special model for tourism. There, the heritage is not only preserved, but also recreated, and the village is not a remnant of the past, but a blueprint for the future.
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