Mohammad Hassan Sardari pointed out that the management of the travel agency provides tourism services as well. He said that the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Yazd province had issued about 90 permits for the tourism services of travel agencies as the sub-parts of the Yazd Tourist Guides Association. He added that there were about 90 permits under Clause (b) and about 40 permits under Clause (a), and a total of 130 agencies were operating in Yazd province. He also said, “The Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization issue permits regarding tourism services. Agencies mentioned under Clause (a) are given permits for the sale of national airline tickets, while those mentioned under Clause (b) can provide tour operation services. Companies involved in pilgrimage services fall under Clause (c) and have no relation to other companies, but the association was developed around 12 years ago. There have been three-year rounds during these 12 years. I was a treasurer, deputy chairman, and the chairman of the association during the first, second and third rounds respectively. After a while, I became the deputy chairman once again, and have been the chairman of the board of directors for about one and a half years.”

“Our goal is to solve the problems of agencies”, he said. “Yazd Tourist Guides Association has good relations with the associations of other provinces of Iran. There is even an administrative complex called the National Institute of Iran, where I am the inspector. We refer to the problems which we can’t solve in the province to higher references through the National Institute. We negotiate with each of these officials in our meetings with the deputy chairman of tourism or the Director-General of Cultural Heritage and resolve the problems of the agency through Iran Cultural Heritage, Handcraft and Tourism Organization. Our offices are like the private sector and tour operators are private. They can provide such services as airport transit visas, hotel reservations for foreign tourists and even tour guides and visiting permits”, Mr. Sardari said. “Agencies are completely capable of providing services to tourists”.

Question: What percentage of tourists were satisfied in your survey?

Over 90% of the tourists were satisfied with Yazd province due to its tourist attraction capabilities, and this satisfaction was quite evident in interviews conducted with the tourists and broadcast in IRIB news reports.

Since the city of Yazd was registered in UNESCO as the world’s oldest adobe city, this city has been accepted as a global city despite the political issues for its tourists. Given that Yazd province has relatively high temperatures during summer, it receives few tourists and we hope that we will be able to accommodate more domestic and foreign tourists following climate change. It should be noted that many foreign tourists will visit Yazd despite the recent sanctions.

Question: Which attractions of Yazd have the tourists found interesting?

Tourists mostly find the clay works very attractive. I must say that Yazd also has the potential of tourism therapy and there are good specialists in this area and infertility. If we have the permit to have direct foreign flights to Yazd, it will receive many tourists for tourism therapy. Mashhad has direct flights, especially from Iraq, due to its religiousness and advances in medicine, and Yazd can also receive tourism therapy.

Q: Please explain the tourist attractions which are very important.

Mohammad Hassan Sardari said, “Every part of Yazd province has its own attraction. Yazd is also known as a four-season city, with temperatures over 40 degrees in summer. There is a difference in temperature between 20 and 25 degrees in yaylak (summer-quarter) regions near the city of Yazd. Since there are people who cannot tolerate the hot climate of Yazd, they can travel to yaylak regions. In winter, there are tropical areas like Bafgh, verifying the claim that Yazd Province simultaneously has two seasons of summer and winter. All cities of Yazd Province, including Meybod and Ardakan, have tourist attractions. For example, Chak village in Ardakan is a very beautiful place. Meybod also has globally registered handicraft, such as pottery containers and zilo, and Taft has high-quality pomegranate for which festivals were held. Bafq, which is a desert city, has its own special attractions as well.

Mehriz is a very green city and has good yeylak regions. Yazd Province, especially the city of Yazd, which is known as the world’s oldest adobe city, is a unique city. …

What distinguishes Yazd from other provinces is its old texture where people still live. It is different from Venice, which is also a tourist city, in that no one lives in Venice. In contrast, people live in the old texture of Yazd. Some historical monuments of this city are Masjed Jame (comprehensive mosque), Eskandar Prison, Ziaei School – Atashkade (Fire-temple), Dolatabad Garden and various museums. There are hotels decorated in a traditional architecture style. The houses have been designed in such a way that they did not overlap with each other. They had heat and cold design, that is, sun-view rooms were built for the winter, and a room was built back to the sunshine with no door to allow the airflow in the summer.

Yazd Province also has handicrafts which have attracted many tourists, including Meybod pottery, which is used for decoration as well, Meybod tile, a mat fan made of palm, and broom, basket, mud jars which were made in Bafgh and used as water storage and were very cool in summer.

Yazd is also famous for a type of hand-woven cloth called termeh, which is over 200 years old and has been woven industrially for about 50 years. Although weaving factories have become industrialized, people in Yazd are still weaving. Yazd is indeed the main center of fabric in Iran.

Yazd’s sweets, such as Qottab (an almond-filled deep-fried cuisine pastry or cake) and Baklava (a rich, sweet dessert pastry made of layers of filo filled with chopped nuts) are very delicious and are imported to many countries.

Sardari also pointed out that Yazd Province also has famous foodstuffs. Yazdi Faloodeh (a traditional cold dessert similar to a sorbet), and Shooli or Yazdi Soup, made from simple vegetables and used by travelers. Some of Yazdi foods are Ghormeh Sabzi (herb stew), curd-eggplant, Yazdi Gheimeh (a stew consisting of mutton, tomatoes, split peas, onion, and dried lime) and Dizi (hearty mutton Persian soup thickened with chickpeas) served in hotels.

Q: How many tourists visited Yazd Province at the peak of trips?

If we divide the trips based on peak and non-peak days, we have no problem in non-peak days due to the heat and the one-star and five-star hotels are completely full. In the past year, especially Eid-e Nowruz (the Iranian New Year), so many tourists visited Yazd that even private homes had been opened to them.

There are many restaurants in Yazd for local and foreign guests where foreign foods are also served. There are also Italian and Indian restaurants in Yazd.

Mohammad Hassan Sardari added that the most important problem in Yazd which played a major role in attracting tourists was lack of access to different countries. Since Yazd Airport is not an international airport, the government should consider international flights to Yazd, including flights from and to Istanbul, European countries, American countries, India and China. If this happens, a lot of tourists will visit Yazd.

The great achievement of recent years is the golden triangle of Yazd, Isfahan, and Shiraz. Every tourist who enters Iran visits these three cities. I hope that the city of Yazd, like Shiraz, can have direct flights from and to Turkey.