Sunny, a cruise liner owned by Kish Free Zone Organization, will serve four more destinations aside from Qeshm, an official at Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization said.
Based at Kish Island, the cruise ship only serves Qeshm Island, which lies to the west of Kish.
Abdolreza Mohajerinejad, director of Tourism Development and Planning Office, also told Mana news agency that the port cities of Chabahar (in Sistan-Baluchestan Province), Deylam (Bushehr), Shahid Bahonar (Hormozgan) and Imam Khomeini (Khuzestan) have been identified as destinations that will be served by Sunny.
"We've had talks with local officials to set up handicraft bazaars at the ports in target destinations," he added.
Sunny, the first-ever cruise ship to dock at Kish Island in nearly 40 years, made its maiden voyage on April 12 by carrying 400 passengers and crew members to Qeshm Island.
The Sweden-made cruise ship arrived at Kish in late March, making it the first Iran-owned ocean liner to touch the waters of the Persian Gulf since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Officials claim Iran’s coastal regions have the potential to attract 3 million foreign visitors a year.
Over 70% of tourism development plans in the sixth five-year development plan (2017-22) are related to marine tourism.
Despite the fact that turning coastal cities into marine tourism hubs has ostensibly been a government priority, the sector is only responsible for 1% of national employment and production.
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