Quantitative Evaluation of Geotourism potential in Firuzabad Geomorph sites: An opportunity for regional sustainable development

Geotourism tries to pursue the goals of protecting the environment and preserving the geographical heritage by using the values of geomorphosites. The fundamental goal of geotourism is to improve the economic level of local communities by creating jobs and increasing awareness about environmental protection while taking advantage of the capabilities and values of geosites and geomorphosites.
Geotourism is defined from two different perspectives: (1) geological or geomorphological 2) geographical. In the definition of geo sites, two main approaches are followed, including a restrictive approach and a prolonged approach. According to the restrictive definition, geosites are considered as geologic objects that are of special interest for understanding the Earth, climate, and life history that determine the scientific quality of the site (rarity, exemplary for science) and land etc.). But some authors such as Paniza (2001) and Paniza and Piacente (1993; 2003) have provided a prolonged definition. They consider any geological object as a geosite - a mineral site, a landform, a fossil, etc. - that provides a certain value due to human understanding or exploitation (Reynard, 2009). The authors distinguish four types of values in geotourism: scientific, aesthetic, cultural/historical and economic. They believe that the scientific interest is related both because of the importance of the place for reconstructing the history of the Earth and its importance for the development of life.
Due to its special geomorphological features and its location in the ancient Sassanid area, Firuzabad region can play an important role in the sustainable development of the region through geo-tourism. Based on this, the purpose of this article is to investigate the capabilities of geotourism and evaluate its capabilities for the development of geotourism in Firozabad city in Fars province.

Firozabad city is located in 52°19' to 52°38' east longitude and 28°36' to 28°45' north latitude. The study area has an area of 723 square kilometers and is a sub-basin of the Firozabad River. The most important geomorphosites and geosites that can be used in geotourism can be found in Dokhtar Castle; The Carved figure of Ardeshir's victory; Sasani Road, Firozabad; Manarmilo; Tang Haighir; Tang e Khorgheh; Tange Chogan; Tange Tashgah e mimand; Tange Mehrak;Tange Tari; Ghar Ashkeft Gavi; Chah Ghar Siahchal Firozabad; Tangab spring; Tangab dam lake; Morjan salt dome; Global salt dome and Konar siah salt dome pointed out.
To achieve the reaearch goal, three methods, Peralong, Kubalikova and Game, have been conducted simultaneously. In the Pralong method, the tourism grade of each place is obtained from the average of four grades of external aesthetic, scientific grade, historical-cultural grade and economic grade with 5 different scoring levels. The sum of the scores of each of the investigated indicators gives the final score of each site.
The GAM method is based on two structures: main values (MV) and complementary added values (AV). In the main values, there are three scientific-educational criteria (VSE), aesthetic and scenic criteria (VSA), and protection criteria (VPr), each with four sub-criteria, and in the structure of added values, two functional criteria (VFn) and tourism criteria (VTr) is included in the evaluation. The evaluation in this model is based on the opinions of specialists and experts.
Kobalikova's method emphasizes scientific and intrinsic values, educational, economic, protection and other values. The total score of scientific and intrinsic values, protection and other values is 3 points, and the total score of educational and economic values is 2 points.

The results of the Peralong method show that several geosites, such as Tang Haiqar and Qale Dokhtar, have the ability to drive tourism activities in the city due to their special scientific and educational attractions as well as their aesthetic quality. In this model, the results show that the level of geotourism potential is high, but the level of productivity and utilization of this potential is at a low level. According to the Kobalikova method, the geosites of Tang Hayqar, Ghala Dokhtar with high scores and two geosites of Tangab Dam Lake and Ghar Ashkeft Gavi got an acceptable score for the development of geotourism. Based on the determination of the final value of the GAM matrix, it indicates that by locating of geosites in the Z21, Z22 and Z32 zones, this area has the natural approporiate capacity and potential for geotourism activities. However, complementary values indicate low development measures and require geosite protection controls.

It can be concluded that due to the variety of geotourism phenomena on the one hand and on the other hand, the conditions of access to geotourism capabilities and potentials are prominent in the region. Also, Firouzabad city is considered one of the prominent historical and ancient heritage sites of the country, and the connection between the two can improve the regional development process by relying on various forms of tourism, especially geotourism. However, the complementary values of geotourism indicate low development measures and require protection controls of geosites. Therefore, conservation planning and development model a long conservation planning are among the proposed further studies in this field.