A Framework for Leveling Good Governance Factors in the Sustainable Development of Tourism Destinations (Case Study: Maybod City)

The implementation of good governance is one of the influential techniques for achieving sustainable development. This concept is particularly of great importance for establishing and institutionalizing a civil society in developing countries. The necessity of good governance is more pronounced in tourism, because, it is formed in the context that is associated directly with the communities. Accordingly, good governance should be considered as an important element in sustainable tourism development.

The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive framework to identify the relationships between each of the indicators of good governance in order to achieve sustainable tourism development in Maybod city.

In this study, indicators are first identified by a comprehensive review of the literature and opinions of experts in the field. These indicators were then rated using Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and the level of their reciprocal effectiveness is determined. The population of this research consists of the academic experts in the field of tourism and the active tourism industry professionals in Meybod city, Yazd.

According to the results, ‘transparent’ and ‘equitable and inclusive’, are the most basics in sustainable tourism development which must be taken into serious consideration by executives in the industry. Moreover, these results will help the policymakers to choose a better procedure to achieve sustainable tourism development by applying the concept of good governance.

The innovation of this study is to design an integrated model for leveling the indicators of good governance in order to achieve sustainable tourism development and determining the effectiveness or usefulness of these indicators.