Strategic Programming of Coastal Tourism (Case study: Nowshahr)

Iran has about 800 km of shoreline bordering the Caspian Sea that provides nice tourism attractions for this coastal area. In this study, we attempted to formulate strategies for sustainable tourism management. The survey consisted of three parts. The first part explained the main aspects within government agencies relevant to tourism. In this part, we identified the variables that the chosen tourist destination considered critical for strategy formulation. In the two other sections, major aspects within tourism planning were considered based on tourists and resident's opinions. For strategic programming, SWOT, QSPM and principal component methods were used. All factors were evaluated by internal and external evaluation matrices. Final scores for each factor were calculated as 2.43 and 2.15 respectively. Finally, strategies were extracted and quantified through Quantitative Strategic Programming Matrix. Revision of laws and regulation gained the highest attractiveness score as 3.180. Moreover, these variables were analyzed using principle component method. Consequently, two main components were described; the first: "People based development of coastal hygiene and services" and the second: "Governmental based development of transportation systems".