The Analysis of Spatial Equality of Tourism Services and Attractions: A Case Study of the Province of Fars

In today’s world, the economic and social inequalities are an increasing issue. Accordingly, one of the features of developing countries is the intense concentration and inequality. This common feature is due to the results of polar growth policies, therefore, the whole power and services are concentrated in one or some regions and other regions are functioning as marginal. Regional planning has been introduced to balance and form appropriate and standard spaces. The first step in regional planning is to recognize the economic, social, and cultural inequalities. In Iran, such inequalities have grown and one of the specific features of spatial development is the regional inequality because the arrangement and organization of geographical spaces have been designed according to the capitalism. Therefore, different regions of our country have developed unequally. While some of the significant cities have the maximum services, the other parts have not developed socially and economically. The inappropriate distribution of infrastructures and services is one of the important and fundamental deficiencies that is observable in tourism plans and researches within the Iranian context. The desirable tourism services and its optimum distribution to tourists and consumers can help balance the other functions of tourism. Therefore, based on this fact it is very essential to pay attention to equal distribution of services. Besides, because the correlation between supply (service providers) and demand (tourists) depends on the access to services, this matter has special complications. In this regard, the distribution of tourism services is more critical than the other services because it has a significant role in the mental well being of the tourists. Fars is one the most important centers of tourism in Iran and has numerous tourist attractions at regional, national, and international levels such as Pasargad, Perspolis, Naghshe Rostam, Naghshe Rajab, Hafiziyeh, Sadeyeh, etc. that attract a large population of tourists annually. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the balanced and optimum distribution of services in all the regions of the province. The balanced spatial distribution of services is one the most important indications of spatial justice, so, the tourism planners have the serious responsibility of bringing spatial balance to services and facilities. Thus, the goal of this research is firstly to apply the indicies of spatial statistics along with the analyses of geographical information systems to recognize the spatial inequality of tourism facilities in the province and, secondly, to provide the appropriate planning to balance the access to services. Finally, the present study aims to attain the social and spatial justice throughout Fars.
Methology: The research was an applied and descriptive-analytic research. In this study, we have used two spatial base units: the official unit (political districts of Fars) and the conventional unit (Fishnet) or Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP). To analyze the data as well as the extensive use of geographical information system techniques such as combination of maps, adjoining the layers to base units, spatial statistics such as spatial correlation technique, Moran index, G statistic, average center, and standard deviation curve have been used.
To analyze the spatial distribution of tourism services in Fars, at first, the tourism services criteria and indexes were specified and then the required data were collected from the relevant organizations. The criteria and indexes that were used in this study consist of commercial services (fast food restaurants & supermarkets), reception services (welfare services complexes), accessory services (petrol stations & car washes), human infrastructures (police stations, cultural, & religious centers of a town or village), and tourism attractions (historical, natural, and religious). Finally, the data of base layers were added and thematic maps, distribution of services, and the tourist attractions of the province and the amount of spatial statistics and their results were sketched.
The findings of this research demonstrate that the tourism services in Fars are totally distributed unfairly and the sketched maps confirm this matter, too. The results of spatial statistics show that the commercial, reception, and accessory services have weak correlation and also have followed the cluster pattern. The maximum density of these services is located in central parts of the province and in Shiraz, Marvdasht, Zaraghan, and Arjan. Also, the human infrastructures have excessive density in the northern parts of the province. The tourism attractions are concentrated in central parts of the province. Therefore, the tourism services are located in the central parts such as the Shiraz and its surroundings but the south and southwest parts of the province have the minimum facilities. Besides, it is necessary to be mentioned that the elongation of the standard deviation curve of services is northwest- southeast. In this study the official and conventional base units have been applied. The application of conventional base units is more suitable than the official ones because our information has homogeneous spatial patterns that reduce the geographical distortions. Moreover, the use of spatial statistics and the features of geographical information system in distribution of services in the areas can help the planners to eliminate the spatial inequalities.