Prioritization of Forms of Tourism in Iran to Formulate National Strategies

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1 Europea Joural of Scietific Research ISSN X Vol.65 No.1 (2011), pp EuroJourals Publishig, Ic Prioritizatio of Forms of Tourism i Ira to Formulate Natioal Strategies Rami Asadi Azerbaija Natioal Academy of Scieces, Istitute of Geography Ra_asadi@yahoo.com Tel: Mahmoud Daryaei Azerbaija Natioal Academy of Scieces, Istitute of Geography Mah_daryaei@yahoo.com Tel: Abstract Factors like geographical positio, climate variety, culture, rich history ad etc. Provide a suitable area for emergece of differet forms of tourism i Ira but there is o complemetary ad formulated program to study differet forms of tourism, assigig ad prioritizatio of effective forms of tourism i Ira. I this study prevailig forms of tourism i Ira are recogized accordig to literature review ad Delphi model. I the ext step by usig the same model 5 criteria are recogized to aalyze forms of tourism ad the are weighted via pair-wise compariso method. The curret study is of applied type. Statistical populatio which icludes all techical maagers of tourism compaies reported 1000 persos allover Ira by Euromoitor i Sample size equals to 278 which is calculated by Morga table. Radom classified samplig method is used ad oe techical maager is selected from each compay. Obtaied results show that health tourism due to availability of potetial markets ad providig high quality services cosistet with metioed markets has the first priority amog the forms of tourism i Ira. Religious tourism, cultural tourism, ecotourism, urba tourism ad rural tourism are the ext priorities whilst proper plaig ca be the stregths ad advatages of tourism idustry i Ira. Keywords: Forms Of Tourism, Ira Tourism, Natioal Strategy, TOPSIS, Prioritizatio. Itroductio I the last cetury, leisure travel moved from a activity of the wealthiest to the ialieable birthright of everyoe. Tourism is usually viewed as beig multidimesioal, possessig physical, social, cultural, ecoomic ad political characteristics [1]. Developig ad ehacig tourism without guidig framework ad pre-determied strategies for achievig developmet goals ad i ad hoc maer is impossible [2]. Tourism idustry of ay coutry cosists of differet forms of tourism for which matchig ad adaptatio of strategies with the ature of destiatio is ecessary.

2 Prioritizatio of Forms of Tourism i Ira to Formulate Natioal Strategies 145 World Tourism Orgaizatio (WTO) used rural tourism cocept for defiig that tourism product "that gives to visitors a persoalized cotact, a taste of physical ad huma eviromet of coutryside ad as far as possible, allow them to participate i the activities, traditios ad lifestyles of local people." [3] Although tourism is ot a paacea for ecoomic developmet but it does have some advatages over other sectors for deliverig pro-poor growth [4]. Pro-poor tourism (PPT) is defied as tourism that geerates et beefits for the poor. Beefits may be ecoomic, but they may also be social, evirometal or cultural. PPT strategies aim to ulock opportuities for the poor whether for ecoomic gai, other livelihood beefits, or participatio i decisio-makig [5]. The emergece of urba tourism through a process whe tourism was see as a dager i1970 is described by Ashworth (1989) as a defesive approach to tourism i the city [6]. The urba tourism is oe of the mai factors of ecoomical icrease of Europea cities [7]. The urba tourism is a essetial aspect of the correlatio of iteral ad exteral demads. This is because the tourists are ot oly visitors, they are equally, parets ad frieds visitig the locals ad of course there are the locals themselves. Voluteer tourism, coied volutourism, is oe of the major growth areas i cotemporary tourism. As such, the 1990s saw the cultural ad adveture tourism rush ad the late 1990s ad early 2000s are ow experiecig the voluteer tourism rush iflueced by a ever icreasig guiltcoscious society. Withi a short timeframe, voluteer tourism has arguably become a mass iche market. I additio, voluteer tourism focuses o the altruistic ad self developmetal experieces that participats ca gai durig their time workig o such projects [8]. Political tourism is specifically referred to the temporary use of cities by large umber of people o the occasio of major political evets ad civil society demostratios. I the past few years, it became icreasigly importat with respect to the ati-globalizatio movemet. Today s pheomeo distiguishes from the past demostratios of social momets by the iteratioalizatio of the ati-globalizatio movemet, the buildig of a iformal ad flexible etworkig amog the differet local tows to arrage meetigs, ad the media focus ad ivolvemet i providig evet related iformatio [9]. Worldwide, evets have bee recogized as a strog compoet of sport tourism that draw people from differet places [10, 11, 12, 13, 14], ad are becomig a itegral ad major part of tourism developmet ad marketig strategies [15]. Sport tourism evets refer to those sport activities that attract tourists of which a large percetage are spectators [they] have the potetial to attract o-residets, media, techical persoel, athletes, coaches ad other sportig officials [16], with the primary purpose for travel beig participatig i or viewig sport [17]. Today sport ad tourism is amog the developed world s most sought-after leisure experieces ad are becomig very importat ecoomic activities [18]. Cultural tourism is the fastest growig segmet of tourism idustry due to tred toward a icreased specializatio amog tourists. Because of people's icliatio to seek out ovelty icludig that of traditioal cultures, heritage tourism has become a major ew area of tourism demad [19]. The movemet of persos to cultural attractios i cities i coutries other tha their ormal place of residece, with the itetio to gather ew iformatio ad experieces to satisfy their cultural eeds ad all movemets of persos to specific cultural attractios, such as heritage sites, artistic ad cultural maifestatios, arts ad drama to cities outside their ormal coutry of residece is kow as cultural tourism [20]. Religious Tourism owadays is cosidered as a commo motivatio for travel, as Jackowski (2000) estimates that approximately 240 millio people travel every year because of the religio, icludig Christias, Muslims ad Hidus [21]. Nowadays, there are thousads of differet holy places aroud the world which have eough attractios to develop ad provoke movemets amog the populatio. Those holy places have a differet meaig for each group of people (cultural, religious, mystic, etc.), depedig o the aim of their trip [22].

3 146 Rami Asadi ad Mahmoud Daryaei Ecotourism has bee defied variously "as resposible travel to atural areas that coserves atural eviromets ad sustais the wellbeig of the local people" [23]. More specifically, ecotourism refers to tourism to areas of atural ad cultural heritage that is plaed ad maaged with the objective of: miimizig egative social, cultural ad evirometal impacts, maximizig the ivolvemet i, ad the equitable distributio of ecoomic beefits to the host commuities, maximizig reveues for re-ivestmet i coservatio, Educatig both visitors ad local people as to the importace of coservig atural ad cultural resources ad deliverig a quality experiece for tourists. These five priciples of ecotourism have uderpied the developmet of the Natioal Ecotourism Strategy sice its iceptio [24]. The rise i iterest towards activity-based tourism kow as 'adveture tourism' has allowed may players to eter what is ow a highly specialized ad lucrative market characterized by a eormous variety of products, ragig from whale watchig trips to guided ascets moutais, from cyclig trips to surfig holidays, from caoeig to heli-hikig. Adveture levels ca be based o the persoal perceptio of risk ad the type of travel which is perceived to be adveturous; ad this will be iheret to the traveler, his/her backgroud ad previous life experieces [25]. Geotourism, if ot amed as such has bee cosidered a form of special iterest tourism, a actively growig tourism market. It has some overlap with eco-tourism, sustaiable tourism ad alterative tourism ad potetially much overlap with educatioal travel, evirometal, aturebased ad heritage tourism [26]. Hose defies ecotourism as: The provisio of iterpretive ad service facilities to eable tourists to acquire kowledge ad uderstadig of the geology ad geomorphology of a site (icludig its cotributio to the developmet of the Earth scieces) beyod the level of mere aesthetic appreciatio [27]. Nostalgia tourism, is rooted i the iflux of circular migrats who retur periodically to their commuities of origi for short periods. Nostalgia tourists are migrats who temporarily retur to their commuity of origi to participate i family, social, ad cultural activities that are carried out throughout the year. The iflux of ostalgia tourism icreases durig holidays ad religious festivities. Nostalgia tourists are ative to the commuity, ad for them, the mai touristic attractio lies i the possibility of recreatig idetity-defiig elemets ad stregtheig family ad commual bods [28]. Busiess tourism is oe of the most lucrative, yet least well ackowledged compoets of our tourist idustry. Over the past te years, there has bee a sigificat growth i all busiess trips, exceedig the overall tourism growth rate. Busiess tourism is a sector of the wider tourism idustry which ecompasses cofereces ad meetigs, exhibitios ad trade fairs, icetive travel, corporate evets, outdoor evets [29]. Recreatioal tourism is a meas by which people seek psychological beefits that arise from experiecig ew places ad ew situatios that are of a temporary duratio, whilst free from the costraits of work or ormal patters of daily life [30]. The demad for recreatio ad tourism facilities is likely to grow because of icreasig persoal icomes, leisure time, mobility ad a overall tred towards more active ad healthy lifestyles. Health tourism, with a focus o good health, wellbeig ad its pursuit, is ot a ew pheomeo [31]. Like most of the other forms of tourism, the flows of people are from more developed to less developed coutries, but the recet tred is for wester travelers to seek solace i Easter therapies (e.g., Chiese medicie, Buddhist meditatio, Idia Ayurveda ad Thai massage)[32]. Adoptig strategic plaig to tourism developmet is ecessary, because most of the times after observatio of tourism developmet ad emersio of udesired social ad evirometal effects, it takes a log time to alleviate the effects or cotrol the process of developmet. There are several examples of tourism destiatios affected by egative ad udesired effects of tourism developmet. Negative effects are usually because of the lack or iappropriateess of tourism developmet plas. So preparig tourism plaig is ecessary to compesate egative effects of tourism i destiatios [33].

4 Prioritizatio of Forms of Tourism i Ira to Formulate Natioal Strategies 147 Tourism is becomig a icreasigly popular way to boost ecoomic growth i developig coutries. Ira is a case i poit ad this study attempts to address differet forms of tourism i Ira ad prioritize them to formulate atioal strategies. This prioritizatio help govermet associates i havig a sustaiable developmet. Likewise it helps the govermet to uderstad the importace of tourism idustry i Ira. Delphi model, TOPSIS method, ad pair-wise compariso are the methods ad materials used i this study to prioritize forms of tourism. 2. Materials ad Methods The preset study is of descriptive research type. It is cosidered as applied type i terms of objective. The preset study is of survey research type i terms of collectio of iformatio ad data has bee made through studyig books ad documets. For obtaiig ecessary iformatio at this study, required data have bee collected through library-based studies, questioaire ad obtaiig data from resources ad documets (for provisio of study theoretical fudametals) Research Model I the first phase prevailig forms of tourism i Ira were determied accordig to literature review ad Delphi model. I the ext step by usig the same model 5 criteria were recogized to aalyze forms of tourism ad the these criteria were weighted via pair-wise compariso method. I the ext step, TOPSIS method is used for prioritizatio of 15 tourism forms i Ira Statistical Populatio, Sample Size ad Samplig Method The curret study is of applied type. Statistical populatio which icludes all techical maagers of tourism compaies reported 1000 persos allover Ira by Euromoitor i 2009 [34]. Sample size equals to 278 which is calculated by Morga table. Radom classified samplig method was used ad oe techical maager is selected from each compay Validity & Reliability, Measurig Tools Provided iitial questioaire was give to uiversity professors ad experts i charge, with the aim of presetig their views o validity of questioaire ad whether questios posed at the questioaire are appropriate or ot. Necessary chages were made at questios o the basis of viewpoits of lecturers ad officials i charge. Crobach salpha [35] Test was used for testig reliability of questioaire of study. For this reaso, 278 study questioaires were distributed amog statistical populatio (idividuals set for this study). The each aswer was studied idividually ad respose rate of each questio was calculated. I the same directio, Crobach's Alpha Reliability Test was made through the applicatio of SPSS software package. Geerally, test reliability rate was obtaied 795% at large Method of Aalysis Delphi Delphi method starts with idetificatio of the problem ad selected experts (Delphi pael) based o their experimet related to the defied problem. A questioaire is desiged ad distributed to the Delphi pael. The data is collected ad aalyzed to reach cosesus i resposes. If the respodets have reached cosesus a report is developed based o resposes, if ot, a ew questioaire is developed based o the results of the previous roud ad agai distributed to the pael. This process is repeated util cosesus is reached ad based o which a fial report is developed [36].

5 148 Rami Asadi ad Mahmoud Daryaei Weightig the Criteria The basic procedure to carry out the pair-wise compariso cosists of prioritizatio of criteria by pairwise compariso (weighig). Ratig the relative priority of the criteria is doe by assigig a weight betwee 1 (equal importace) ad 9 (extreme importace) to the more importat criterio, whereas the value reciprocal to that is assiged to the other criterio i the pair. The weightigs are the assiged a umber ad averaged i order to obtai a average weight for each criterio [37] TOPSIS For rakig ad selectig the most appropriate suppliers TOPSIS method is more appropriate due to the followig reasos: I this techique, due to permissio of desirability exchage betwee the attributes, it is possible to improve a supplier performace through its comparative advatage i some areas, despite its poor performace i other cases. I TOPSIS decisio makig techique, iteractio effect of attributes is cosidered. This techique also cosiders Coflict ad compatibility betwee attributes [38,39,40]. TOPSIS decisio makig techique is less sesitive compared to weightig techique. Cosiderig the statistical populatios covered i this study, compesatig models ad its costructive subgroup, TOPSIS techique, is used for evaluatig ad rakig the suppliers [41] Reorgaizatio ad Weightig of Evaluative Criteria Referrig to literature review ad research backgroud, 5 criteria are recogized for aalysis of forms of tourism i Ira ad the by admiistratio of questioaire, aspects ad ideas of tourism ad geography experts are acquired. The weight of each criterio is calculated o the basis of pair-wise compariso. Matrix of pair-wise compariso of decisio makers is calculated by usig geometric mea as follows: I this method after completig pair-wise compariso matrix, first geometric mea of each lie of matrix is calculated; i the secod phase the preset colum is ormalized by dividig each attribute to the sum of preset attributes. The ew colum matrix is the matrix of weight of the idexes of the cosidered problem. Below the mathematical form of this method is provided: a a 1 11 a π 1 π1 i= 1 i W a. = = a.. a a a π π W π i= 1 i. I this research 5 basic criteria are recogized to aalyze the forms of tourism i Ira ad the were weighted via pair-wise compariso method (Table 1). π Table 1: Matrix of Pair-wise compariso of basic criteria Citeria Number of Amout of Ecouragig Legth of stay Secod visit tourists expediture others Number of tourists Amout of expediture Legth of stay Secod visit 1 Ecouragig others 1

6 Prioritizatio of Forms of Tourism i Ira to Formulate Natioal Strategies 149 After formig the model i expert choice ad importig the matrix of pair-wise compariso, the weight of criteria ad sub-criteria was calculated as show below. Table 2 shows the weightig of 5 criteria which are determied o the basis of AHP method (expert choice software). Table 2: Weightig the Basic Criteria Row Basic criteria Weight Priority 1 Number of tourists Amout of expediture Legth of stay Secod visit Ecouragig others I table 3 matrix of decisio ad i table 4 matrix prepared i the basis of five criteria stated above ad 15 forms of tourism i Ira, which are prioritized by TOPSIS (2005) software ad Excel are show. Table 3: Decisio Matrix Row Forms of tourism Number of Amout of Legth of Secod Ecouragig tourists expediture stay visit others 1 Rural tourism Pro-poor tourism Urba tourism Voluteer tourism Busiess tourism Political tourism Cultural tourism Sport tourism Recreatioal tourism Health tourism Religious tourism ad pilgrimage Adveture tourism Ecotourism Geotourism Nostalgia tourism Table 4: Table of ormalized decisio matrix Row Forms of tourism Number of Amout of Legth of Secod Ecouragig tourists expediture stay visit others 1 Rural tourism Pro-poor tourism Urba tourism Volutary tourism Busiess tourism Political tourism Cultural tourism Sport tourism Recreatioal tourism Health tourism Religious tourism ad pilgrimage Adveture tourism Ecotourism Geotourism Nostalgia tourism

7 150 Rami Asadi ad Mahmoud Daryaei Table 5: Weighted ormalized decisio matrix Row Forms of tourism Number of Amout of Legth of Secod Ecouragig tourists expediture stay visit others 1 Rural tourism Pro-poor tourism Urba tourism Volutary tourism Busiess tourism Political tourism Cultural tourism Sport tourism Recreatioal tourism Health tourism Religious tourism ad pilgrimage Adveture tourism Ecotourism Geotourism Nostalgia tourism Table 6: Prioritizatio of forms of tourism i Ira by TOPSIS method Row Forms of tourism d- d+ d-+d+ CL priority 1 Rural tourism Pro-poor tourism Urba tourism Volutary tourism Busiess tourism Political tourism Cultural tourism Sport tourism Recreatioal tourism Health tourism Religious tourism ad pilgrimage Adveture tourism Ecotourism Geotourism Nostalgia tourism Iterpretatio of the Table Prioritizatio of forms of tourism i Ira shows that health tourism with a weigh equals to 1 is the most proper form of tourism to develop tourism idustry i Ira. Religious tourism (0.8483), cultural tourism (0.7259), ecotourism (0.6374) ad sport tourism (0.5726) respectively are the best forms to develop. This prioritizatio shows that recreatioal tourism (0.0832) ad political tourism (0.1144) have o effect o developmet of tourism idustry i Ira. Coclusio Geographical positio of Ira ad its adjacecy to ewly idepedet cetral Asia coutries like Afghaista, Pakista ad Iraq which are cosidered as health tourism geerative coutries besides rederig comparatively high quality medical services provide a suitable backgroud to attract health tourists ad developmet of health tourism. Religious tourism is the ext sigificat form of tourism i Ira. This form of tourism is importat because of the existece of iteral demads. Rich history ad cultural heritage of this coutry have placed cultural tourism i the third priority amog other forms of tourism.

8 Prioritizatio of Forms of Tourism i Ira to Formulate Natioal Strategies 151 Abudat atural attractios have icreased the importace of ecotourism ad o the other had proper ifrastructures ad existece of local sports has placed sport tourism i the ext priority amog forms of tourism i Ira. Urba tourism ad rural tourism through the existece of uique attractios are the other importat effective forms of tourism i developmet of tourism idustry i Ira. Busiess tourism, ecotourism ad pro-poor tourism are less importat i compare with other forms of tourism. Recreatioal tourism due to the lack of suitable social ad cultural space ad legal restrictios, also political tourism because of lack of political relatios with other coutries do t have ay cosiderable impact i developmet of tourism idustry i Ira. Refereces [1] Mathieso A., Wall G., (1992), Tourism: ecoomic, physical ad social impacts, Logma, Lodo. [2] Hall, C. Michael Tourism Developmet, Dimesios ad Issues. South Melboure: Addiso Wesley Logma. [3] Negrusa, A. L., Cosma, S. A., & Bota, M. (2007). Romaia rural tourism developmet a case study: rural tourism i Maramures.. Iteratioal Joural of Busiess Research, July. [4] Deloitte ad Touche, IIED ad ODI 1999, Ashley, Roe ad Goodwi 200l, WTO/OMT 2002, Page [5] Carolie Ashley, Dilys Roe ad Harold Goodwi, Pro-Poor Tourism Strategies: Makig Tourism Work For The Poor, April 2001, Russell Press, Nottigham. [6] Ashworth, G.J. (1989) Urba tourism: a imbalace i itetio. i Cooper, C.P (ed.) Progress i tourism, recreatio ad hospitality maagemet. Lodo: Belhave Press. [7] Delitheou V., Viieratou M. ad Touri M. (2010). The cotributio of public ad private ivestmets to the growth of coferece tourism i Greece. Maagemet Research ad Practice, Vol. 2 Issue 2, pp [8] Callaa, M. ad Thomas, S. (2005) Voluteer tourism: Decostructig voluteer activities withi a dyamic eviromet i Novelli, M. (Ed) (2005) Niche Tourism: Cotemporary issues, treds ad cases Oxford: Elsevier. [9] Adreatta, M., dellaporta D., Mosca, L., Reiter H. 2002: Global, o global, ew global: aprotestacotroil G8 a Geova, Roma: Laterza [10] GETZ, D. (1997). Evet maagemet ad evet tourism. New York, NY: Cogizat Commuicatio Corporatio. [11] GAMMON, S. & ROBINSON, T. (2003). Sport ad tourism: a coceptual framework. Joural of Sport Tourism, 8(1): [12] PENOT, J. (2003). Sport tourism ad tourism geerated by sportig evets. Joural of Sport Tourism, 8(2): [13] SOFIELD, T.B.H. (2003). Sport tourism: from biary divisio to quadripartite costruct. Joural of Sport Tourism, 8(3): [14] ZAUHAR, J. (2004). Historical perspective of sport tourism. Joural of Sport Tourism, 9(1): [15] TASSIOPOULOS, D. (2005). Evet maagemet: a professioal ad developmet approach (2d ed.). Cape Tow: Juta. [16] KURTZMAN, J. & ZAUHAR, J. (2003) A wave i time: the sport tourism pheomeo. Joural of Sport Tourism, 8(1): [17] TURCO, D.M.; RILEY, R. & SWART, K. (2002).Sport Tourism. Morgatow, WV: Fitess Iformatio Techology. [18] Ritchie, Bret W. (2005). Sport tourism: Small scale sport evet tourism: The chagig dyamics of the New Zealad Masters Games. I Maria Novelli (Ed.), Niche tourism :

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