Analyzing the Position of Rationality in the Strategic Plan for Tourism Development in Iran

One of the practical issues leading to the success or failure of tourism development plans is the type of rationality that dominates the country’s planning system in each era and the corresponding planning theory. This article has been compiled to analyze the position of rationality in planning as an epistemological framework in Iran’s strategic tourism development plan. This research’s conceptual framework of rationality is based on Alexander’s Rationality Model (2000) and the new approaches to tourism planning. The philosophical paradigm of the study is based on interpretive epistemology, and its methodology is based on qualitative research. Archival Studies and Thematic Analysis methods have been used for gathering and analyzing data in this research. The study’s statistical population for the content analysis comprises the qualitative texts of Iran’s strategic tourism development plan. The findings of this research indicate that, for the first time, coordinative rationality has become dominant in Iran’s strategic tourism development plan (Approved in 2020). The components of rationality were recognized, and the share of each type of rationality was outlined by analyzing 85 themes and thematic networks in the strategic plan in this research.