Flower, a Kind of Attraction
25th Khordad (the third month in the official Iranian calendar) corresponding to June 14th or 15th has been designated as the National Flower and Plant Day in the country. This highlights the importance of nature for Iranians. This land is the habitat of a wide variety of self-seeding plants and flowers that can be regarded as tourist attractions. Water Lily, Lilium Ledebourii, Fritillaria, Damask rose, and Tulipe are among the most known flowers of the country. Some of these flowers grow in various parts of the country in specific season(s), while others grow only in some specific regions. On the other hand, there are various kinds of greenhouse flowers in the country that can also contribute to tourist attractions. However, “flower-watching tourism” has yet to flourish in the country or even academically, this line of research has yet to be studied well. Two broad methods to develop flower-watching tourism include launching tours to habitats of flowers and holding flower exhibitions and festivals either at the national or international level. Many countries have already applied these methods and have attracted a significant number of tourists. For example, botanical tours, flower festivals and carnivals are commonplace in Germany, China, Austria, Bulgaria, Columbia, etc.
Development of flower-watching tourism in Iran, like other emerging types of tourism, confronts definitely barriers. One of the major barriers refers to unfavorable attitudes and viewpoints, leading to missing the capacities of the country in this area. To alleviate this and make nationals and potential tourists more interested in flower-watching tourism in Iran, it is suggested to improve the quality of flower and botanical exhibitions/festivals, use effective advertisements, plant more flower fields and export more flowers to other countries. Such will subsequently introduce flower watching tourism as a lucrative segment of the market that can generate revenue and foreign exchange for the country.
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