According to the Public Relations and International Affairs of the Kish Free Zone Organization, Meysam Safarzadeh, at the opening ceremony of the second Tourism Market Symposium of ECO member countries in Kish, considered tourism to be beyond an economic activity and a platform for mutual understanding of nations, cultural interaction and strengthening regional convergence, and stated: ECO member countries, with historical, civilizational, cultural and geographical commonalities, have a unique capacity to form a common and powerful tourism market.
Referring to the capacities of Iran's free zones in linking regional tourism markets, he added: the country's free zones, from the coasts and islands of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman to the northern, northwestern and eastern border areas, in addition to their economic functions, can become hubs for cultural interactions and international cooperation.
Safarzadeh, describing the tourism capacities of the country's free zones, considered Kish to possess significant capabilities in maritime, sports, health tourism and hosting international events, and said: Qeshm, with natural attractions and the valuable heritage of local communities, Chabahar with the pristine Makran beaches and the Aras region with natural and cultural capacities, each can have an effective share in the development of national and regional tourism.
He identified the development of family-oriented tourism, improving quality of life and attention to local communities as strategic priorities of the Secretariat of the Supreme Council of Free and Special Economic Zones and added: tourism development leads to sustainability when its economic and social benefits are also apparent in the lives of people and local communities.
The Acting Deputy for Cultural, Social and Tourism Affairs of the Secretariat of the Supreme Council of Free and Special Economic Zones, emphasizing the capacities of border free zones to expand cooperation with neighboring countries, stated: creating joint tourism routes and facilitating movement between Iran's tourism destinations and regional countries provides new opportunities for developing the tourism market and increasing economic interactions.
He also stressed the necessity of the participation of travel service offices, companies active in this field and investors, and said: the goal is for Iran's free zones to become operational bases for the tourism development of regional countries and, by utilizing existing capacities, to establish more effective connections with the tourism markets of neighboring countries.
Safarzadeh further announced that drafting a roadmap for the development of free zones' tourism is on the Secretariat's agenda and clarified: in this roadmap, each region's competitive advantages will be identified so that, by moving beyond fragmented actions, the groundwork for targeted, networked planning based on each region's specific capacities will be provided and free zones, as a complementary set, will play a role in national and regional tourism development.
Stating that the future of regional tourism depends on cooperation and defining common interests, he expressed hope that: the second Tourism Market Symposium of ECO member countries, beyond specialized exchanges of views, will pave the way for drafting joint executive programs and forming sustainable connections among tourism industry stakeholders of member countries.
The Acting Deputy for Cultural, Social and Tourism Affairs of the Secretariat of the Supreme Council of Free and Special Economic Zones concluded by announcing the Secretariat's readiness to support the formation and development of regional tourism cooperation by utilizing the capacities of the country's free zones.