Analysis of obstacles and problems of nomadic ecotourism development(Case study: Nomads of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province)

While Iran is among the top ten countries in the world in terms of natural resources and tourism but it accounts for only one percent of global tourism revenue. Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province due to its privileged geographical position, tourism and resort has a high potential in the field of tourism. This province is one of the pioneers of industry of nomadic ecotourism due to the presence of nomads in the region and the attraction that their presence creates for tourists. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify barriers to the development of nomadic ecotourism in this province, especially Koohrang city. The present research is applied in terms of purpose, exploratory in terms of method and qualitative in terms of data collection. The statistical population consists of experts in the field of tourism and familiar with the nomads of the region. The sampling method is non-probability and snowball and 15 experts were selected based on sampling adequacy and theoretical saturation rule. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. By analyzing the interviews, the obstacles to the development of nomadic ecotourism in the form of 63 basic themes, 10 organizing themes and six comprehensive themes were obtained. The pervasive themes are: weak infrastructure, weak governmental support, environmental constraints, weak socio-cultural capital and weak tourist attraction mechanism.