Analysis of Ecotourism Market in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiyari Province, IRAN

Subject Areas : Geography and tourism planning, geography and urban planning, urban planning, architecture, geography and rural planning, political geography

Farahnaz Ebrahimi ¹ , Vahid Etemad ²

1 - Dept. of Environment, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
2 - Associate Prof. Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, College of agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran

Received: 2019-09-24 Accepted : 2019-09-24 Published : 2019-09-01

Keywords:

Abstract :

Due to people's searching for a unique new destination to pass their holidays and release for a while, the province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiyari in Iran is one of the top touristic destinations in which a combination of huge natural beauty and rich history due to the nomadic lifestyle has made this province as a potential region for eco-tourism development, however this province has not a high volume of tourism flow at this time. To remove this shortcoming of tourism market in the area, in this study a baseline analysis of current situation of tourism industry has been done through in-depth interviews with the main stakeholders in eco-tourism market in the province. The potentials of tourism market in the area have been reviewed through SWOT analysis technique. The results will provide the tourism decision makers the main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The main strengths and opportunities of the province is related to environmental and cultural issues due to its unique vast natural environment and nomadic lifestyle, however the main weaknesses and threats of the tourism destination is related to political and technological issues due to global sanctions of Iran and lack of sufficient infrastructure for eco-tourism.

References:

Eagles, P. (1992), The Travel Motivations of Canadian Ecotourists. Journal of Travel Research 3(2):3–7

Filipiak, A. (2003), Nature- based Tourism and Recreation in the Promotional Forest Complex Kozienicka Primeval Forest; Analysis of development potential, MSc thesis, Wageningen Univ., The Netherlands.

Kutay, K. (1989). “The New Ethic in Adventure Travel.” Buzzworm: The Environmental Journal, 1 (4):30-36

Orams, M.B. (2001), Types of Ecotourism. In D.B. Weaver (ed.) The Encyclopaedia of Ecotourism. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, pp. 23–36

Page, S.J., Dowling, R.K. (1963), Ecotourism, Illustrated edition (2002), Harlow, England ; New York : Prentice Hall, c2002

Statistical Year Book, Ch.M.B, the Statistics and Information Associate, 2004.

Swanson, M.A. (1992), Ecotourism: embracing the new environmental paradigm, paper presented at the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) IVth World Congress on National Parks and Protected Areas, Caracas, Venezuela, 10-12 Feb.

Tourism Guide of Ch.M.B; Roof of Iran, ITTO, Ch.M.B. 2004

Tribe, J. (1997), The Indiscipline of Tourism, In: Annals of Tourism Research 24 (3): 638-657

Van der Heijden, K. (1996), Scenarios; the art of strategic conversation, 2^nd edition, Wiley & Sons, Chichester.

Wearing, S. & Neil J. (1999), Ecotourism; Impacts, Potentials and Possibilities, Oxford, Great Britain.

Weaver, D. (2001), The Encyclopedia of Ecotourism, CABI Publishing, Wallingford, ISBN 0‐85199‐368‐0