When Isfahan City Council waived all charges on construction of hotels and lodging facilities, it took a great step towards improving tourism infrastructure, Persian daily Donya-e Eghtesad quoted managing director of Iran Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) Gholam-Hossein Hosseini as saying. According to Hosseini, the tourism industry should not only benefit the government, but also people. Currently, tourism is an important substitute income for declining oil revenues. During the past years, there have been an increasing number of villagers migrating to urban regions. To curb the phenomenon, a pilot tourism plan was implemented in Kandovan village, East Azerbaijan Province. The plan has proven to be a success; each family in the village earns 250 million rials ($7,500) annually as a result of tourist-related activities, and it has also reduced migration.
