Review of Ecotourism Businesses Based on the Local Economy and Knowledge for Gaining Lessons

Making purposeful use of the natural environment, ecotourism plays a crucial role in empowering local communities, whose economy could be improved through the application of local knowledge. Therefore, this study sought to identify the formal-functional criteria affecting the success of internet-based ecotourism businesses, and the content criteria regarding the local knowledge and economy. Moreover, the study undertook to elaborate on the effective criteria involved in the success of the relevant businesses in Iran. To do so, first, the intended criteria were developed by reviewing the related literature and performing content analysis. Then, the criteria involved in the success or failure of some select Iranian internet-based ecotourism businesses (15 businesses out of the final 44 businesses qualified to be studied in this research, which had been selected and filtered out of 91 businesses in 2019) were identified via expert-oriented quantitative evaluation. Finally, 120 online questionnaires were administered to target groups (Ecotourists and tour guides). The collected data were then analyzed via the SPSS software using Gamma and Contingency Coefficient correlation tests, followed by the validation of the criteria involved in the success of the Iranian internet-based ecotourism businesses.As indicated by the results of the study, providing local guides, organizing tours in untouched regions, and providing the opportunity for tourists to participate in ritual ceremonies were found as the main criteria involved in the success of Internet-based businesses in terms of local knowledge. Moreover, the local-economy-based criteria included the creation of job opportunities by providing a variety of tourism activities and services, providing accommodation, food, services, food, car rental services, etc. On the other hand, offering financial and cultural-educational support through holding free educational courses together with other formal-functional aspects of the platform may also contribute to the success of the aforementioned businesses.