Multi-Criteria Evaluation of Land for Ecotourism Development) Case Study: Khorram-Abad Country)

Undoubtedly, Khorram-Abad Country has been considered as one of the most beautiful, scenic and pleasant weather areas of Iran because of many natural, cultural, historical, etc attractions. Despite the great potential for ecotourism development in this country, it has not been implemented a good plan for ecotourism development in this area. This study intends to identify the effective criteria and sub-criteria in ecotourism evaluation with respect to the area conditions and suggest the suitable areas for ecotourism development. For this regard Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) have been used. At the first step, effective criteria and sub-criteria in the evaluation process determined and the weight of each criterion and sub-criterion determined using the Delphi technique and expert's knowledge. Then, the required maps were prepared. After that, with the integration of maps and their corresponding weights the capability map for ecotourism was prepared. The results showed that 7.80, 60.75, 46.37 and 5.50 percent of the study area has excellent, good, moderate and poor potential respectively and 2.35 percent of the area is not suitable for ecotourism at all.