According to ILNA's correspondent, Seyed Mostafa Mousavi, referring to the joint meeting of the Minister of Cultural Heritage with tourism activists and members of the Khorramshahr Chamber of Commerce during Seyed Reza Salehi Amiri's visit to Khorramshahr, told ILNA: The Minister of Cultural Heritage's order to pursue Khorramshahr's benefiting from the capacity of Article 65 of the Law on Permanent Provisions of the country is a capacity that gave tourism activists hope for removing management obstacles and accelerating the development of tourism in Abadan and Khorramshahr.
The president of the Tourism Commission of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, referring to the Minister of Cultural Heritage's visit to the tourism attractions of Khorramshahr and Abadan, said: The joint meeting of economic and tourism activists of Khorramshahr with the Minister of Cultural Heritage was an opportunity to raise issues and demands of the private sector and to present executive proposals aimed at developing tourism in the Arvand Free Zone and the cities of Khorramshahr and Abadan.
He added, emphasizing the importance of following up the results of this meeting: One of the important topics raised was the use of the capacity of Article 65 of the Law on Permanent Provisions of the country's development plans to facilitate the management and development of the Arvand Free Zone, and with the notification of the Minister of Cultural Heritage's order and the referral of the resolutions to the deputies of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, from now on the Arvand Free Zone can, after submitting an official request in accordance with the request of tourism activists, pursue the issue of benefiting from the capacity of this legal article through the relevant deputy until a result is reached and benefit from its legal advantages in line with the development and transformation of tourism in the region.
How can Article 65 help the development of Arvand tourism?
According to the president of the Khorramshahr Chamber of Commerce, one of the issues that had to be considered in the development of tourism in the Arvand Free Zone was coordination in decision-making and integrated management of executive affairs.
He added: The Arvand Free Zone has diverse capacities in the field of tourism, and exploiting these capacities requires removing administrative and managerial obstacles so that the responsible bodies can act with greater coordination to implement tourism plans.
The president of the Khorramshahr Chamber of Commerce said: In this framework, the use of the capacity of Article 65 of the Law on Permanent Provisions of the country's development plans was raised as one of the demands of economic and tourism activists, and with the order of the Minister of Cultural Heritage and the referral of the resolutions to the relevant deputies, the path for officially pursuing this issue was clarified, and the Arvand Free Zone can submit its request and follow the issue through the relevant deputy until a result is reached.
The president of the Khorramshahr Chamber of Commerce continued: The importance of this action is that the private sector's demand goes beyond being raised in a meeting and enters an official and pursuable path, so that legal capacities can be used to facilitate affairs, strengthen coordinated management and provide better conditions for investment and tourism development.
Emphasis on using the tourism capacities of Khorramshahr and Abadan
The president of the Tourism Commission of Iran's Chamber of Commerce announced the use of the historical, natural and geographical capacities of Abadan and Khorramshahr for tourism development as one of the private sector's requests to the Minister of Cultural Heritage and said: Due to its proximity to Iraq, access to the Karun and Arvand rivers, and its historical and cultural attractions, this region has the potential to become one of the important tourism destinations in the south of the country.
Mousavi added: Alongside these capacities, infrastructure and executive issues must also be considered. Because the development of accommodation centers, facilitating tourist traffic from the Shalamcheh border, organizing transportation services, expanding water and health tourism and reviving historical attractions are among the topics that can be included in the region's tourism development plan.
The president of the Khorramshahr Chamber of Commerce continued: Khorramshahr enjoys a special geographical position, a historical and cultural background and capacities related to rivers and water tourism, and it can become, alongside Abadan, an attractive destination for domestic and foreign tourists.
He added: To achieve this goal, the tourism attractions of Khorramshahr and Abadan must be properly introduced and the necessary infrastructure for access, accommodation and service provision to tourists must be provided.
Mousavi said: It is necessary to establish coordination among cultural heritage, tourism, urban management programs and economic activities so that existing capacities turn into real investment and employment opportunities.
The president of the Khorramshahr Chamber of Commerce, referring to tourism activists' request to the Minister of Cultural Heritage to settle the status of the Khorramshahr Fortress, announced: Settling the legal and ownership status of this fortress was raised in the joint meeting with the Minister of Cultural Heritage, and dismantling this fortress from beside the Khorramshahr water shore can, in addition to freeing the coastal strip, develop Khorramshahr's water tourism.
He said: In the meeting with the Minister of Cultural Heritage, the Khorramshahr Chamber of Commerce's proposal was that the existing obstacles to exploiting this monument be removed and the possibility of reviving this complex as a museum site and a destination related to resistance tourism be examined and pursued.
Mousavi said: We told the minister that such a plan could help preserve the historical heritage of Khorramshahr, strengthen the cultural identity of the city and increase the diversity of its tourism attractions.
The president of the Tourism Commission of Iran's Chamber of Commerce continued: Reviving historical buildings can play an effective role in the development of the region when, in addition to preservation, planning is also done for introducing them to tourists and for tourist visits.
The capacity of the Shalamcheh border and the boom in water tourism
The president of the Khorramshahr Chamber of Commerce announced the Shalamcheh border as one of the country's important land entrances from Iraq and said: The quality of services and infrastructure of the Shalamcheh border affects the experience of travelers and tourists, and in the meeting with the Minister of Cultural Heritage it was emphasized that organizing this border should be done with a tourism outlook. This means that in addition to border and commercial requirements, the needs of travelers and tourists should also be considered in the design and management of services.
He said: Improving the appearance of the Shalamcheh border entrance, creating standard tourism entrance gates, separating passenger traffic routes from commercial activities and organizing transportation services were among the Khorramshahr Chamber of Commerce's other proposals to the Minister of Cultural Heritage.
Seyed Mostafa Mousavi added: Organizing tourist taxis, creating centers to provide services to travelers and facilitating passport processes and the traffic of Iraqi tourists' personal vehicles were also among the emphases of private-sector tourism activists in the meeting with the Minister of Cultural Heritage.
He said: Another proposal was to examine the possibility of creating a specialized tourism customs for importing tourist vehicles, facilitating the entry of equipment needed by this industry, and recreational vessels and supplies related to health tourism.
The president of the Tourism Commission of Iran's Chamber of Commerce called the Karun and Arvand rivers important tourism capacities of Khorramshahr and Abadan and said: These capacities can play a role in forming new tourism products, especially in water tourism, for the use of which it is essential to organize the banks of waterways, dredge canals, develop access routes to water attractions and create suitable infrastructure for recreational activities.
Announcing that another proposal of the Khorramshahr Chamber of Commerce to the Minister of Cultural Heritage was the creation of a continuous tourism route and coastal boulevard along the Karun and Arvand, he added: Developing recreational piers and providing the possibility for water taxis to operate are among the necessities for the development of water tourism in this region, the implementation of which can provide the ground for tourists to make greater use of water attractions and lead to a boom in tourism-related economic activities in Khorramshahr and Abadan.
Khorramshahr and Abadan, the winning card for health tourists' entry
Seyed Mostafa Mousavi further announced health tourism as one of the fields in which Abadan and Khorramshahr can develop their capacities.
He said: Proximity to Iraq and the possibility of land access has provided a suitable ground for attracting patients and health tourists from the neighboring market, and to exploit this opportunity, the chain of services must take shape in a coherent manner.
He added: Organizing services for foreign patients, strengthening coordination mechanisms among medical and accommodation centers, supervising the activities of intermediaries and making costs transparent are among the important topics in this field, in which, by designing combined packages of treatment, transportation and accommodation, foreign travelers can be supported from the moment they enter the Shalamcheh border to receive the health services they need.
The president of the Khorramshahr Chamber of Commerce said: Developing this sector requires the cooperation of medical complexes, tourism activists, accommodation centers and responsible bodies, and the more coherent and transparent the services provided, the greater the possibility of strengthening the position of Khorramshahr and Abadan in the health tourism market.
The necessity of renovating hotels and financing tourism plans
Seyed Mostafa Mousavi, emphasizing that tourism development is not possible without suitable accommodation infrastructure, said: Renovating hotels, improving service quality, raising the standards of accommodation centers and supporting investment in hotels and eco-lodges of Khorramshahr and Abadan were among the other requests of economic and tourism activists in the meeting with the Minister of Cultural Heritage.
He added: Financial support for renovation and improvement plans of accommodation centers and providing better conditions for investment, along with developing recreational vessels and water tourism infrastructure, were among the other topics whose proposal was presented by the Khorramshahr Chamber of Commerce to the Minister of Cultural Heritage.
The president of the Khorramshahr Chamber of Commerce announced: Economic and tourism activists of the Khorramshahr Chamber of Commerce, in the meeting with the Minister of Cultural Heritage, also presented the proposal to use the capacity of Note 18 facilities and the resources of the National Development Fund within the framework of the relevant rules to support the tourism infrastructure plans of Khorramshahr and Abadan.
Seyed Mostafa Mousavi said: Financing must be such that projects with economic justification can be implemented and the private sector has more incentive to participate in the tourism development of the region.
He announced the creation of a direct passenger transportation route between Abadan and Basra as one of the important proposals raised in the meeting with the Minister of Cultural Heritage and added: The geographical proximity and the economic and social ties between Iran and Iraq have provided a suitable ground for developing tourism exchanges, and establishing direct and regular passenger connections, alongside facilitating border processes, can make Iraqi tourists' access to the attractions of Abadan and Khorramshahr easier.
Mousavi emphasized: The proposal to use Abadan Airport as an international airport with Basra Airport was also presented to the Minister of Cultural Heritage, which can be a suitable transportation route for meeting passengers' transportation needs.
Source: ILNA News Agency
