Economic evaluation of tourism ecosystem services of Iran's biomes based on remote sensing products

Planning and subsequent decision-making in tourism with accurate and up-to-date information ensures sustainable development of the country's assets. This information has become more accessible to researchers in recent years with the development of remote sensing technologies. In this study, using the potential of remote sensing products in integration with Robert Costanza valuation model, tourism ecosystem services for all biomes in Iran were evaluated economically. In addition, the provinces of Iran were compared with each other in terms of biomass values. Special biomes such as coral reefs, mangrove forests and seagrasses to common biomes such as forests, wetlands, etc. were studied in this study. Based on the results, the economic value of tourism ecosystem services of all biomes in Iran is estimated at about $ 20 billion per year. Mazandaran, Gilan, Hormozgan, Bushehr and Khuzestan provinces with a value of 3.25, 2.44, 1.43, 1.38 and 1.31 billion dollars per year, respectively, and the provinces of South Khorasan, Qom, Semnan, North Khorasan and Ilam with a value of 0.07, 0.08, 0.14, 0.15 and 0.16 billion dollars per year had the lowest share in providing these services.