Identifying and analyzing the potentials and challenges of tourism development in the Sardoyeh region, Iran

Tourism is one of the most important accomplishments that has played a special role in the development of human activities in recent decades. As economists call it, tourism is a sort of invisible exports. In fact, tourism is considered an industry today. Jiroft County in Kerman province is no exception. It has the potential and many natural attractions. The tourism industry can be very supportive of the development of Jiroft. Achieving these advantages and requirements will not be possible until the proper planning and contexts are provided. The first step in planning for tourism development in Jiroft is identifying its strengths and bottlenecks. In this regard, the present study aims to review and analyze the most important opportunities and challenges for ecotourism development of Sardoyeh in Jiroft County. These are necessary for strategic planning process, which is an important and essential step for planning tourism development and consequently sustainable regional and national development.

This study aimed to determine the appropriate strategies for the development of tourism in Sardoyeh area of Jiroft County in order to answer the following questions: What are the potentials and limitations of rural tourism development in the region? What strategies and solutions can be identified for developing this type of tourism in the region? In this research, descriptive-analytical method and field and documentary information was used. SWOT strategic model was used to identify weaknesses, strengths, opportunities and threats. The QSPM model was used to offer the most important strategies in the field of tourism development in the Sardoyeh region. The statistical population of this research is Jiroft County and the sample population includes 25 experts related to tourism in Jiroft County.

Surveys showed that despite the great potential of Sardoyeh, there was no proper planning for the development of ecotourism in the region. Investigation of internal and external factors using SWOT model showed that although the study area has high potentials, tourism industry in the region faces serious challenges and threats. Based on the analysis, 4 conservative strategies are presented, with the first priority being "applying appropriate management practices to attract private and public funds" with the highest score based on the QSPM matrix score.

It can be concluded from the results, that decreasing internal threats and weaknesses and using existing opportunities and strengths are necessary, while external opportunities must be used to address the weaknesses. Therefore, these plans and strategies can address many of the threats and disadvantages of ecotourism development in Jiroft County, thus moving towards ecotourism development and taking an important step towards sustainable regional and national development.