Deterrents to tourism development in Iran

Abstract

There are parts of the Middle East that can be regarded as being among the least preferred tourism destinations in the world. Research shows that travellers' perceptions of the region, as a whole, have been damaged and that, for some nations, the situation has gone from bad to worse. The combination of a hard-line attitude towards religion, oil and water shortages have led to the onset of war and confl ict, either among countries within the region, or have resulted in countries from within the region having confl icts with countries located outside of the region. This paper looks at the Middle East in general and Iran in particular in order to review its tourism potential and explains how the process of its development as a tourism destination has been hampered. This research also attempts to discover why, in spite of several attempts by the Iranian government, tourism has failed to develop to its true potential. The research is informed by a questionnaire survey of travellers together with a Mini-Delphi Study of tourism academics.

Analyzing the Pre-Travel, On-Travel, and Post-Travel Behaviors of Iran’s First-Time Visitors

“…The results also indicated that tourists should understand the image of their chosen destination through the visitation of the destination. Morakabati (2011) stressed that the image of a destination such as Iran is non-tourism specific, and closely linked to political propaganda and the country's relationship with other countries.…”

“…Due to the political propaganda, Iran is seen has a negative image in the world. In addition to its negative image in the world, unstable regional conditions and the absence of efficient advertising have also made a growth in tourism more difficult (Morakabati, 2011). According to statistics of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC,), Iran currently ranks 92nd in the world in terms of tourism, while it is among the top 10 tourist countries in the world in terms of historical sites and natural resources (Iran's Cultural Heritage Handicraft and Tourism Organization, 2012).…”

“…More recently, the issue of nuclear development in Iran has caused the image of the country to deteriorate further. Since 1979, Iran has lost the majority of its tourists and most of the tourists who have traveled to Iran have been religious pilgrims, business people, and Iranian people traveled to visit their families in Iran (Morakabati, 2011).…”

A comparative survey of the condition of tourism infrastructure in Iranian provinces using VIKOR and TOPSIS

“…The country ranks 10 th in hosting historical monuments and attractions (Morakabati, 2011), and is the 10 th country in the world with maximum ecotourism attractions (Armaghan, 2007). These rankings suggest that Iran involves high potentials in the field of tourism.…”

Analysis of Factors Affecting the Development of Tourism in Kazakhstan

“…Turizm alanında bir noktaya ulaşılabilme açısından güvenlikle ilgili genel imajın önemi çok fazladır. (Morakabati, 2011). Yapılacak tanıtım çalışmaları, harcanacak milyonlarca dolara rağmen "Gece yarısı ekspresi" veya "Borat" gibi filmlerin yarattığı imajı değiştirmek oldukça zordur.…”