The Role of Urban Policy in Selecting Top Tourist Regions (Case Study: Mahshahr city)

Sustainable development is one of the key objectives of the tourism industry in any country, and this industry is influenced by economics, politics, and geography, with its development also impacting each region. Sustainable development in tourist areas accelerates the national development process through policies that preserve resources and the environment in each region. The aim of this research is to examine the role of urban policy in selecting top tourist regions and evaluating the criteria and capabilities of tourist destinations in the city of Mahshahr. The analytic hierarchy Process (AHP) model and a likert scale questionnaire were used in this research. Firstly, the questionnaires were distributed and their data were analyzed. After obtaining the compatibility of the criteria, the weights of each criterion and option were determined and then analyzed. The findings of this study indicate that among the factors of gravity, value, distance, and selected demand for tourism in the study area, the demand criterion has been assigned the highest weight (0.54) and the attraction criterion has been assigned the lowest weight (0.06) in tourism. Furthermore, the final ranking of selected tourist areas in Mahshahr has shown that bandar imam Khomeini and Aram Park Lake, with scores of 0/354 and 0/29 respectively, are ranked first and second in priority, while the historical city of Esk is ranked seventh in a lower position. Therefore, making informed decisions based on tourism criteria has a significant impact on economic activities, and the demand criterion has a more significant impact on regional tourism development.