This year a total of $26 million has been approved for tourism projects in the country, 70% of which has been allocated so far, said Masoud Nouri, director general of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Handicrafts, and Tourism Organization’s (ICHHTO) budget department at a meeting in the southwestern province of Bushehr.
Noting that developing tourism is a top economic priority for the administration, Nouri said 30 regions have been earmarked for tourism development across the country, IRNA reported.
He announced the opening of a regional museum in Bushehr, pointing to the significant place of regional museums in the Fifth Five-year Economic Development Plan (2011–2016) and also in the sixth plan (2016-2021) currently being drafted.
The need to make the most of tourism benefits was stressed by the deputy head of ICHHTO’s department of management development, Samiolah Hosseini Makarem. Makarem also highlighted the 80% allocation of a $2 million budget for completing the semi-finished projects in the province. The budget will increase in the next Iranian calendar year- starting on March 21, 2015, he added.
Land to Investors
Addressing the meeting, Bushehr’s Governor General Mostafa Salari announced the allocation of $5.5 million for constructing a tourist village in an area of 400 hectares in the coastal lands of the province, a project which will start soon.
The official also said $13 million has been approved for preserving the provincial cultural heritage. It will be allocated by the end of the year.
Noting that the province has a severe shortage in hotels and accommodation, Salari said the government is ready to provide support to hotel investors to acquire land and licenses.
The director general of the budget and planning department at the Governor General’s office, Asghar Naseri who also addressed the meeting, pointed to a 60% growth in the provincial ICHHTO’s budget for development. He underlined the necessity to use private sector capital for developing tourism in the region.
