Physical-Spatial Strategies of Urban Tourism with a Participatory Approach in Kashan Region

Despite the international importance of cooperative tourism and the global effort to attract income through tourists, tourism is not booming in different regions of Iran, including the Kashan region, due to various reasons. The purpose of the present research is to study the physical-spatial strategy of urban tourism with a participatory approach in Kashan region. The research is applied in terms of subject and descriptive and analytical in terms of method. The techniques used are: SWOT strategic analysis model and quantitative planning matrix model. The independent research variable is tourism and the dependent research variable is physical and spatial development. This research seeks to answer the question, "What are the potentials and limitations of the physical-spatial strategy of tourism with a participatory approach in Kashan region?". The results obtained from tourists, citizens, university professors, administrators, and experts show that, according to the public, the most important weaknesses of the research are the lack of a written program in the field of public participation, low participation spirit and weak government supervision, and the most important strength of the research is the existence of suitable tourism infrastructures (in relation to other cities in the country, not in relation to the global scale). Also, according to the respondents, the lack of clarity about the role of people's participation in the country's tourism plans and, of course, the plans of the Kashan region, and the lack of economic stability, are the most important perceived threats to tourism. The set of these factors is shown in the form of a matrix. This matrix shows the priority of each of the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. In the matrix, the internal strategic factors got a final score of 1.82, which is not only smaller than 2.5 but also smaller than 2. As a result, despite the existence of tourist attractions in Kashan region, due to many problems, people's participation for the physical-spatial development of tourism is not satisfactory.