Identification of‏ ‏Leveling of the Rural Ecotourism Areas in Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari Province

Considering the importance of rural eco-tourism in the economic and social development of rural areas, the present study seeks to identify and stratify the priority areas of rural ecotourism in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province.

Design/methodology/approach:

 To determine the importance and weighting of the identified indicators, the fuzzy Shannon entropy method was used. The fuzzy Aras method was also used to determine the priority of the regions (ten cities of the province). Finally, with the benefit of the kriging interpolation method in ARC GIS software, the identifies indicators were interpreted.

Based on the results, the suitability index of the restored architecture in the physical sector with a weight of 0.0945, the index of minimal damage to the environment and optimal use of resources centered on the concepts of sustainable development in the environmental sector with a weight of 0.0943, and the suitability index of the restored architecture in the infrastructure sector with a weight of 0.926 were the most effective indicators in identifying the rural ecotourism area.

Based on the findings of the research, the villages of Farsan with a definite score of 0.116, Borujen with a definite score of 0.115, and Shahrekord with a definite score of 0.113 were identified as areas with higher priority in rural ecology, while Khanumriza and Ben villages had lower scores than other regions of the province.

Originality/value:

 The variety of techniques used in the research can be considered as the innovation of this study.