Providing a Framework for Identifying the Challenges of Attract Foreign Direct Investment in Iran: Applying of Theme Analysis in Hotel Industry

Despite the hotel industry is a very dynamic sector in the tourism industry, its development and exploitation are confronted with enormous challenges. In this regard, attract of foreign direct investment can be considered as one of the ways to expand the hotel industry of Iran, while the use of this approach has barriers and limitations. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify barriers to attract foreign direct investment in the hotel industry of Iran. Regarding the goal, the current research was practical and the nature of research is qualitative based on thematic analysis. The study population was consisted of experts of tourism, hospitality and foreign investment. Participants were 12 experts selected by using purposive sampling or snowball sampling method. After semi-structured interview with experts, the four main themes were identified as barriers to attract foreign direct investment in the hotel industry in Iran which all of them came from the findings. The results showed that economic barriers, political barriers, social barriers and managerial barriers are the main reasons of failure to attract and expand foreign direct investment in the hotel industry of Iran. Therefore, it can be said that each of these variables can affect the foreign direct investment in the hotel industry and consequently the tourism industry of the country.