The interest of Turkish investors in Iran, whose economy is suffering from U.S. sanctions, is growing. Having already attracted Turkish investments in various subsectors of manufacturing, the country has also become an opportunity for Turkish tourism investments.

The island of Kish, on Iran's sunshine coast and a tourism heaven, is about to welcome a Turkish investor who will build the Crystal Hotel with an investment of $100 million. The 1,000 room hotel will be the largest investment in the island, located in Iran's southern coast in the Persian Gulf.

Turkish tourism investor Tuncay Kilit, who is the owner of Crystal Hotels scattered across Turkish resort cities, has decided to invest in the island of Kish, a recent attraction among Gulf investors.

The accommodation facility to be constructed by the Turkish investor will have meeting rooms, separate beaches exclusively allocated for men and women, sports areas, a water park, pools and social areas where families can spend time together. Kish, known as the gate to the heart of Iran, offers visitors shopping without customs fees and the investors in the island are exempt from income and corporate taxes for a period of 20 years.

Crystal Hotels, operating under Kilit Hospitality Group (KHG), have a network of 18 accommodation facilities in Turkey. Beginning its operations in the tourism and accommodation sector in 2005, Crystal Hotels has become one of the largest hotel chains in Turkey in 14 years. The hotel network has a bed capacity of 20,000 and 7,000 employees.

Kilit Hospitality Group Chairman Tuncay Kilit and Kish Free Trade Zone General Manager Gholamhoseyn Mozaffari signed the deal last week for the investment project to be built on an area of 10 hectares. Mozaffari said, in his address after the signing ceremony, a great number of investors from Qatar, Oman and Iraq are showing high interest in Kish and noted that investment in the island will rise significantly in the upcoming period.