Potential assessment of geotourism development in peripheral areasCities in arid regions (Case study: New Ivankei city)

Tourism is one of the sectors that has grown dramatically in the global economic arena in recent years, so that tourism in many countries is considered as the main source of economic recovery and economic growth. Economists believe that tourism is one of the most promising industries that the Third World can use its capabilities to replace other industries and development. One of the new study basins in tourism studies is based on the recognition of geomorphous cultures. Geotourism is one of the pillars of tourism that emphasizes the prospects, forms and processes that create them. In fact, geotourism, a tourism that preserves and improves the geographic identity of a site, which includes not only the environment, but also the cultural heritage and aesthetics of the place, and most importantly the welfare of the local population. Despite the importance of geotourism and its great impact on the socio-economic development of the regions, but the necessary progress has not been made in this area and in many regions, including the central regions of the country, there are no comprehensive plans for the development of this industry. Each region has different talents and attractions according to its geographical environment. One of the areas that has high potential for the development of the geotourism industry is the new city of Ivanki in the west of Semnan province. Due to its geographical location and connection, the new city of Ivanki can have important functions to create sustainable employment and urban development in the future, including the tourist function. Ivanki new city from the south to important geosites including Dasht-e Kavir, from the west and east to the geosites of mines and Salt Mountain. It also leads to the geosites of mountainous areas from the north, including valleys, gorges, waterfalls and springs, but no action has been taken to develop the region's geotourism industry. Due to the importance of the issue, in this research, the potential of geotourism development around the new city of Ivanki will be assessed.

This research is based on descriptive-analytical methods. Research data are based on library studies and interviews. Research tools include ARCGIS (for mapping) and SPSS (for calculating the value of geosites). In this research, first, using library studies and interviews, geosites of the region have been identified and then they have been evaluated using Comanescu, Kubalikova and indigenous methods. The Comanescu method uses the criteria of management and use, cultural, aesthetic, scientific and economic. The Kubalikova method emphasizes scientific and intrinsic values, educational, economic, conservation and other values. In this study, in addition to the Comanescu and Kubalikova models, the geosites of the area have been evaluated using an integrated model and intervening in the environmental conditions of the study area. In fact, in order to comprehensively study the geosites of the region, according to the status of the studied geosites and also modeling different models, a native model has been prepared to evaluate the geosites and using it, the studied geosites have been evaluated. . In this model, the desired values are divided into two categories of intrinsic values and complementary values. Due to the fact that the scoring method is different in the three methods used and each method has more emphasis on specific criteria, the results obtained from the three methods are not the same. Therefore, in this study, in order to determine the final value of geosites, the final score of each geosite in each method has been obtained as a percentage of the total, and finally, by obtaining the average percentage of all three methods, the final value of each geosite has been calculated.

The location of the new city of Ivanki has made this area prone to the development of the geotourism industry. In this study, in order to potentially assess the geotourism status of the region, 40 potential geosites of the region were identified and then evaluated using the methods of Comanescu, Kubalikova and local methods. The results obtained through the Comanescu method indicate that among the geosites of the region, the geography of the Vashi Strait has the highest score with a total of 89 points and after that, the geosites of salt mines and Kavir National Park have the highest points with 83 and 76 points, respectively. According to the results obtained from the Kubalikova method, the geography of the Vashi Strait has the highest score with a total of 10.25 points, followed by the geosites of the salt mines and Kavir National Park with 9.75 and 9 points, respectively. Based on the results obtained from the native method, the salt mines geosite has the highest score with a total of 42 points, followed by the salt tunnel and Vashi Strait geosites with 41 and 39 points, respectively.

In this research, 3 methods have been used to evaluate geosites. Given that there are differences between the results obtained, Therefore, in order to determine the final value of geosites, the final score of each geosite in each method is obtained as a percentage of the total, and finally, by obtaining the average percentage of all three methods, the final value of each geosite is calculated. According to the results, among the geosites of the region, the geography of Vashi Strait with an average of 79.6 points, has the highest score, and after this geosite, the tunnels of salt tunnels and salt mines with 78.1 and 72.6 points, respectively. , Have the highest average score. The sum of the obtained results indicates that the study area has the necessary conditions for the development of the geotourism industry. In fact, the location of the new city of Ivanki at the distance of geosites in mountainous and desert areas has caused this city to have the necessary potential as one of the tourist centers.