Prioritization of tourism development strategies in border areas (Case study: Paveh province)

Border regions are among the geographical spaces that, despite their high capacities, are sometimes ignored in proportion to their specific conditions. In recent years, tourism in border areas is one of these capacities that had received some attention, and further, it has formed the competitive advantage of tourism in these areas. Economically, tourism is undoubtedly one of the most important forms of power in the world, which is very important for developing countries. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the priorities of tourism development in the province of Paveh. The method is descriptive-analytical and the purpose is practical. The statistical population of the study included 18 tourism specialists from five cities of Paveh, Sardasht, Ilam, Shousha and Marivan. The present study is conducted in two dimensions. In the first stage, the required data and information were studied through the study of documents and libraries, including documents related to tourism. Then, goals, important strategies to achieve the goals and tourism capabilities of Paveh province were entered into Meta-SWOT software. The present study examines the level of tourism competitiveness of Paveh with four other competitors in two dimensions, which are: 1- Increasing the number of tourist arrivals 2- Revenue from tourism and based on these dimensions, the level of competitiveness of tourism in the border province Paveh is specified. Findings showed that based on the level of existing capabilities and comparing it with other competitors, Paveh province can be in the first place in both increasing the number of tourists and tourism revenue. The obtained results show that the most important advantages of tourism in the province are having a variety of climate, texture and special and unique architecture and educated manpower. On the other hand, the weakness of the countrychr('39')s diplomacy, conflicts between countries in the region, general management of the country, lack of proper infrastructure have been the biggest obstacles to tourism development in the province of Paveh, according to experts