Specifying the Objectives and Alternatives of Tourism Development within the Framework of Value-focused Thinking: A Case Study of Farahabad, Sari County of Iran

This study aimed at determining the values ​​of the host community and exploring new views about the development of tourism in Farahabad, Sari county of Iran, by value-focused thinking in order to identify decision opportunities, create and evaluate alternatives and finally, choose the best alternative. It was a qualitative research implemented through the strategy of Grounded Theory and also analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for evaluating and prioritizing the development alternatives in the studied area. The statistical population included 15 informed people in the concerned field who were selected by snowball sampling. The semi-structured interview was used to collect data. The study results showed that in accordance with value-focused thinking, the effective objectives in tourism development of Farahabad were divided into two types including fundamental and means objectives. Then, the phase of making decisions regarding these objectives began by specifying the alternatives and decision opportunities as well as evaluating them. Finally, the diversified development was selected as the most preferred alternative for community sustainable development in the studied area.