Designing a Policy Package to Achieve Sustainable Tourism Development in Iran

As one of the sources of income and sustainable tourism, the tourism industry focuses on economic, social, and environmental issues. Accordingly, the main objective of this study was to design a policy package to achieve sustainable tourism development in Iran. The findings of this study can help with improving the tourism industry's performance, especially therapeutic tourism in Iran from local communities to the national level as well as the development of tourism by preserving the valuable assets of the country.

The qualitative research method was used due to its interpretive and natural approach to events, people, and topics. The research strategy was an exploratory multiple case study. After interviewing the participants in this study, who were 12 stakeholders of the industry and using the five-stage Yin model to analyze the collected data, the dimensions of the policy package of sustainable tourism development including strategies, short-term goals, long-term goals, and challenges were achieved.

Strategy themes included national support, national initiatives, and international initiatives. Themes of short-term goals included promotion of local tourism, cultural-educational development, internal and external marketing. Themes of long-term goals included sustainable economic development, revenue generation, and infrastructure development. Themes of challenges included the high cost of travel, low quality of service, Covid-19 pandemic, and lack of support for local businesses.

This study showed that the participants paid attention to economic, social, and environmental factors. The participants also required the government and other related sectors to promote medical tourism and to preserve and protect natural resources through principled investing, culturalization, and education. Paying attention to the issues mentioned by the participants and applying the policy package obtained in this research can help public and private managers and investors to preserve valuable natural resources, especially hot springs, and to develop the tourism industry.