Assessment and Prioritization of Tourism Development Indexes using TOPSIS (Case study: Kurdistan Province)

Tourism industry increases foreign exchange revenue and thus has an important role in economic development, especially in developing countries. Tourist attractions as one of the pillars of tourism industry along with other elements including infrastructure will provide the necessary conditions for attracting tourists. Given the importance of tourism’s role in economic development on the one hand and tourism potential in Kurdistan province on the other, it is necessary to apply an appropriate procedure to prioritize different areas for different investments in the province. This study aims to evaluate and prioritize the cities in Kurdistan province through TOPSIS model based on tourism development indicators (natural attractions; historical, cultural and religious attractions; man-made attractions; commercial attractions; touristic villages; hotels; accommodation rooms; tourism service agencies; travel agencies; active toll-houses; traffic police; road emergency stations; on-road accommodation; and accident blackspots) in the four richness/development levels of over-developed, developed, semi-developed, and under-developed to achieve appropriate and efficient planning. The methodology of the study is descriptive-analytic and data is collected through library-documentation method. The results of the study indicate that Sanandaj with a priority coefficient of 0.82 is over-developed; Marivan, Saqez, and Baneh with priority coefficients of 0.382, 0.387 and 0.35, respectively, are developed; Bijar, Kamyaran and Qorveh with priority coefficients of 0.23, 0.21 and 0.20, respectively, are semi-developed; and Dehgolan, Sarvabad and Divandarreh with priority coefficients of 0.12, 0.096 and 0.078, respectively, are under-developed (deprived)