TEHRAN – Soaring numbers of travelers to Anzali Free Zone along with ongoing efforts to boost its tourism infrastructure are sure signs that it is on track to become a bustling tourist hub in northern Iran.

The number of domestic and foreign tourists visiting the coastal region rose to 3.107 million in the previous Iranian calendar year 1395 (March 2016-March 2017) in comparison to 2.3 million the year earlier, witnessing 35 percent growth, said Anzali Free Zone Organization’s Deputy Director Majid Fatehi on Tuesday.

The figure also jumped by 35 percent during the first Iranian calendar month of Farvardin (March 21-April 20) in comparison to the same period last year, Fatehi added in an address to a meeting on tourism investment opportunities.

The free zone embraces 14 hotels, motels and residential complexes with a capacity of 5800 beds, all enjoy quality standards, he said.

A recreational pier named “Marina” is currently under construction as a pilot project for enhancing marine tourism in the region and it would be first of its kind in the south-Caspian region, ISNA quoted the official as saying.

The docking station has a capacity for accommodating some 350 vessels and it will be operational by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2018), he estimated.

Located in Gilan province, Anzali Free Zone is the sole free zone in the southern part of the Caspian Sea with an area of 9,400 hectares and 40 kilometers shoreline.

The economic hub, launched in 2005, has special advantages such as strategic transportation and transit position by being in the International North–South Transport Corridor. In addition, the free zone enjoys tax exemption for 20 years as well as customs duties and value-added tax exemptions. 

PHOTO: A general view of Anzali Free Zone in northern Iran.

AFM/MG