He added that during the festival tourists would benefit from 30% discount on hotel accommodation rates, 50% on green card, 20% on restaurants, as well as getting special offers in the kish market.
During the opening of the festival which starts from 15th of Tir (July 6), around 600 cultural ceremonies would be administered including pop and traditional music concerts, Ebrahimi said.
"Five billion rials is allocated toward this festival. The main source of income for Kish is via tourism. The more tourists travel the higher the income of locals here," he further explained.
Ebrahimi pointed out that the rate of smuggled goods is nil in kish which has turned it into a tourists spot from merely a shopping place. There is no unemployment on the island that helps reducing crime.
The managing director of the festival said one million tourists visited kish last year and that this figure would rise to one million and two hundred this year.
He maintained, “Kish Island, covering an area of approximately 90 square kilometers, is one of the most beautiful spots better known as the pearl of the Persian Gulf. It is Iran’s first free trade zone and its strategic location has turned it into a hub for trade exchanges.”
HJ/MR