Studies on Eco-Camp location Using TOPSIS Method (Case Study: Tourism Areas in Lorestan Province)

In the present era, the development of the tourism industry is considered necessary in order to earn money and develop the country's economy. Subsequently, environmental damages in this sector have raised concerns about tourism destinations internationally to provide a product that complies with environmental standards. So, the attention has been paid to the idea of designing eco-camps, which are based on the principles of sustainability and ecotourism and considered among the green settlements. Locating eco-camps properly is one of the most important parts of sustainable tourism planning that leads to the eco-camps success and return on investment. To this end, areas that have the potential for the construction of eco-tourisms in terms of tourism and ecotourism values should be identified. This study was conducted aimed at determining the appropriate location for the construction of eco-camps in Lorestan province, according to the criteria and factors affecting the quality improvement of eco-camps using multi-criteria decision analysis (TOPSIS) method. This was an applied study in terms of objective and a descriptive-analytical one regarding methodology. In this method, five alternative tourism areas of the province, including Bisheh Waterfall, Gahar Lake, Valiasr Wetlands, Shiraz Strait, and Chekan Waterfall were selected to score the necessary criteria and sub-criteria required for locating eco-camps using the province's tourism experts. 25 certified experts from the National Tourism Committee of Lorestan were surveyed using a questionnaire. The results indicated that Gahar Lake had the highest score of 0.711 and Valiasr wetlands had the lowest score of 0.394 for constructing an eco-camp.