A Study of Tourism Research in Iran by Applying a Systemic Approach

Tourism development due to the presence of actors and stakeholders has a lot of complexity. This complexity and agency of various actors have led to the fact that the tourism research has been increasingly oriented towards a systemic approach during the past decade, and the explanation of the dynamics of the tourism system has found its place among different studies in the country. The main question of this study is how researches conducted by applying systemic approach have been accumulated and to which questions they have intended to answer? What methods the accumulated knowledge have used and what content they have generated? To do this, all of the studies carried out in relation to tourism and systematic approach were investigated during the years between 2007 and 2017. This study is of secondary nature and was conducted in a systematic way. We examined articles, theses and research projects in this field by referring to authoritative domestic databases. This study shows that most of the tourism research conducted in the country is based on the field of geography, and the study of the tourism industry by applying a systemic approach is in its infancy. Also, the volume of scientific work in this field is very small and so far no comprehensive literature has been developed that can explain the elements and actors of the tourism system.