In a bid to improve the quality of tourist services on Qeshm Island, the Qeshm Investment and Development Company has several projects underway, including two “mega eco-camps” with the capacity to accommodate 50,000 travelers each.
The camps, which will be set up across 10 and 15 hectares of land, aim to encourage tourists to ditch tents for comfortable and fully-equipped wooden cabins, Mehr News Agency reported, quoting QIDC chief executive Reza Baqerinejad.
The camps will boast amenities such as a hypermarket and recreational facilities.
The company’s stated goal is to promote sustainable tourism on the Persian Gulf island.
Pointing to substandard lodging facilities in Qeshm as the main reason for the industry’s stunted growth, Baqerinejad said, “Qeshm has numerous lodging facilities, none of which have a star rating that correctly reflect quality.”
He said in the first week of the Norouz holidays (March 20 – April 1), over 63,000 tourists visited the popular island and had to put up with low quality services.
“Many were luxury tourists whose needs were simply not met in the hotels.”
Emphasizing the need and importance of high-end tourism, the QIDC has initiated major projects to help improve the quality of VIP services. One such project is the establishment of a tourist resort which will be ready before the current Iranian year is out in March 2017.
On a different note, he said a Canadian company is set to lease a number of modern airplanes to Fly Qeshm, a Sino-Iran airline which is set to begin operation in the near future.
The airline will begin by offering flights to Isfahan, Shiraz, Gorgan, Kermanshah and Mashhad, before expanding globally to include Guangzhou in China and Vancouver and Toronto in Canada.
Aside from the sun and sandy beaches, Qeshm’s famed mangrove forests in the Hara Protected Area draw large numbers of domestic and foreign tourists.
Hara Protected Area is one of five forests in the southern Hormozgan Province and arguably the most important feature of Qeshm Geopark. With an area of 85,686 hectares, Hara is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
