Strategic Compilation of Rural Tourism Development Using SWOT- ANP Integrated Model (Case Study: Savar Village in Bonab County)

Document Type : علمی

Authors

• Mirnajaf Mousavi ¹
• Soghra Niroumand Shishavan ²
• Ali Majnouni Totakhane ²
• Ahmad Aftab ³

¹ University of Urmai

² University of Bonab

³ Mohaghegh Ardabili University

10.22067/jrrp.v6i2.55686

Abstract

Extended abstract
1. INTRODUCTION
The importance of tourism in the present era, more than anything else, depends on the economic cycle that has a high potential in the fields of local and international economic dynamics. However, despite significant progress in many aspects of human's life and their ability to solve problems and great challenges, rural areas still face with numerous challenges; because, previous strategies had not been successful in dealing with rural development issues such as poverty, employment, health, food security, and environmental sustainability. One of the strategies used currently in most developing countries, which were implemented in other countries with positive results, is the development and promotion of tourism in the rural areas that have potentiality for tourism. Due to what stated above, to improve development in rural areas, especially in Savar (a village in Bonab, in East Azarbaijan) with its numerous historical, natural and social attractions for tourists, it is needed to take advantage of appropriate strategies and approaches to develop rural tourism considering the circumstances as well as human and natural characteristics.
2. Theoretical Framework
The issue of rural tourism was developed in the 1950s, and it was in the 1960s and 1970s that the economic aspects of rural tourism for farmers and local communities attracted the attentions. Since then, planners and experts in different countries have been carrying out wide activities to attract tourists and develop tourism activities by offering a variety of strategies and approaches as many people believe that tourism development is the only way to develop rural areas and that it can change the direction to growth led by tourism. Thus, tourism is the fundamental element of moving towards rehabilitation and rebuilding of rural areas. Some people see tourism as a part of tourist market.
According to different opinions and theories on tourism and rural development, their objectives and effects, it can be said that rural tourism, on the one hand, is providing new opportunities for many rural areas to revival of rural communities. On the other hand, developments without planning cause social and environmental damage in rural settlements.
3- Methodology
The aim of the present research is functional and the research method is descriptive analysis. In this research, data were collected through using two ways: documentary (Secondary data) and survey (Basic data). Tools used in survey were a questionnaire and an interview. One hundred fifty questionnaires were distributed among the three groups in the local community of Savar village, authorities of cultural heritage, handcrafts and tourism organization of Bonab city, governorate and Municipal of Bonab, Islamic Revolution Housing Foundation of Bonab and also tourists coming to this region (n= 200). Finally, 400 questionnaires were distributed. The next step of study was conducted in two stages: SWOT analysis was used to develop appropriate strategies, and then with ANP approach the strategies were prioritized.
4-Findings
After analyzing the findings, strategic factors were determined and alternative strategies had been developed.
Offensive strategies (OS):
 Codification of development plan of Savar village in cooperation with all stakeholders.
 Paying attention to the demands and needs of tourists and trying to give logical response to needs.
 Identifying tourism potentials of the village and trying to turn these into tourist attractions.
 And etc.
Strategies of diversification (ST):
 Developing programs focusing on providing rural attractions to convert potential revenue source to actual source
 Supporting popular cooperatives (NGOs) in the field of tourism development in the village of Savar
 Trying to use all the potentials of seasons to attract tourists based on the four seasons of the village of Savar
Defensive strategies (WT):
 Reduction of administrative bureaucracy and providing financial incentives to attract and retain private sector
 Developing educational programs to train local forces
 Replacing closed attitude with facilitated attitudes
 Using new advertising and marketing technologies
 Forming think tank attended by government and private experts for planning based on regional realities
Finally, according to assessments that have been made, defensive strategies (WT) with weight of 0/214, has first priority in tourism development planning of Savar village, and after that, the following strategies are as following:
Weaknesses-Opportunities strategic (WO), Offensive strategies (OS), strategies of diversification (ST):
 Offering various incentives to private investors for working on tourism projects of Savar tourist village
 Reduction of administrative bureaucracy to expedite projects and plans for tourism development in the village.
 Development of land transport network and elimination of black spots of the current link road in order to have access to Savar village
 Preparation of comprehensive tourism marketing and advertising programs according to the needs of different sectors, to maximize the effectiveness coefficient of these efforts
 Holding educational and entrepreneurship courses for the local community of Savar village and promoting tourism culture of visitors to the village.
5- Conclusion and Suggestions
The results of the SWOT model represent tourism development strategies of Savar village in four following strategies: defensive strategies (WT), review strategic (WO), Offensive strategies (OS), strategies of diversification (ST). The results of determination of priorities of strategies using the ANP model shows that in planning for the development of tourism in Savar village, defensive Strategies (WT) must be in priority for planners; hence, the most important programs and defensive Strategies for development of tourism in Savar village are recommended:
 Paying serious attention to the development of residential and welfare infrastructure with the aim of satisfying tourists and increasing the shelf life/ durability of them in the village of Savar
 Paying attention to consistent advertising and creation of information tools like designing websites, advertising teasers, and …
 Removing barriers to investment, especially, by supporting the participation of private sector investment in Savar village
 Providing professional training to local community in order to learn how to behave with tourists
 Adopting systematic and holistic thinking among managers, planners, private sector, local community and tourists in order to make decisions based on the facts of this region.

Keywords

• Tourism
• Rural tourism
• the village of Savar
• SWOT - ANP model

---

References

1. Aftab. A., Soltanzadeh. V., & Jalile Jamshidi. A. (1392/2013). Tourism development planning with emphasis on strategic (Case Study: Golmankhaneh area of Uremia). First National Conference on Geography, urban planning and sustainable development, Khajeh Nasir University, Tehran, Iran. [In Persian]

2. Akbari Samani, N., Badri, S.A., & Salmani, M. (1391/2012). Strategic planning of rural tourism using the evaluation matrix IFE and EFE (Case Study: Saman- Shahrekord County). Journal of Rural Studies, 3(12), 59 -84. [In Persian]

3. Ashtari Mehrjerdi, A. (1383/2004). Eco-tourism and sustainability: definition. Aspects & Features, Monthly Socioeconomic Jahad, 22(262), 1-5. [In Persian]

4. Badri, S., Motiee Langroodi, S.H., Salmani, M., & Aligholi zadeh, N. (1388/2009). Economic impact of tourism on rural areas, Case Study: Rural areas Noshahr. Journal of Geography and Regional Development, 7(12), 13– 36. [In Persian]

5. Cawley, M., & Gillmor, D. A. (2008). Integrated rural tourism: Concepts and Practice. Annals of tourism research, 35(2), 316-337. ‏

6. Chen, L. C., Lin, S. P., & Kuo, C. M. (2013). Rural tourism: Marketing strategies for the bed and breakfast industry in Taiwan. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 32, 278-286. ‏

7. Darvishi, H., Beyranvandzadeh, M., Nader Dehghani Alwar, S.A., & Ahmadi, A. (1393/2014). Prioritization of Rural Tourism Development Strategies from the Aspect of Spatial Planning: A Case Study of Gaykan-Aligoodarz County. Journal of Rural Development Strategies, 1(2), 69-84. [In Persian]

8. Dimitrovski, D. D., Todorović, A. T., & Valjarević, A. D. (2012). Rural tourism and regional development: Case study of development of rural tourism in the region of Gruţa, Serbia. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 14(1), 288-297. ‏

9. Ebrahimzadeh, E., Eizadi, P., & KohzadI, S. (1394/2015). Strategic planning of sustainable development ecotourism by using a combination SWOT- ANP models. Journal of Geographical Planning of Space, 2(6), 13 -27. [In Persian]

10. Ghadami, M. (1391/2011). Assessment and strategy formulation to within the framework of sustainable tourism development (Case study: Mashhad metropolis). Journal of Urban-Regional Studies and Research, (9), 59 –82. [In Persian]

11. Haji Nejad, E., Rahimi, D., & Taghizadeh, G. (1392/2013). Codification of strategic plan of tourism development in rural tourism sample areas (Case study: The tourism sample village of Hajij in Paveh). Journal of Town & Country Planning, 5(1), 51-78. [In Persian]

12. Hajinejad, A., Payedar, A., Bagheri, F., & Abdi, N. (1394/2015). Strategic Planning for development of rural tourism. Journal of Strategic & Macroeconomic Policies, (8), 111 – 135. [In Persian]

13. Hataminejhad, H., Sheikhi, A., Rahmati, Kh., & Sharifzadeh Aghdam, E. (1394/2015). Strategic Planning of Tourism Development Baneh City. Journal of Urban Tourism, 2 (2), 167-190. [In Persian]

14. Hesampour, M., ghanbari, Y., & Shayan, M. (1394/2015). Codification of Rural Tourism development strategies (Case study: Sheidan Village of Bavanat county in Fars province). Journal of Studies of Human Settlements Planning, 10 (32), 137-147. [In Persian]

15. Holland, J., Burian, M., & Dixey, L. (2003). Tourism in poor rural areas: Diversifying the product and expanding the benefits in rural Uganda and the Czech Republic. ‏

16. Iorio, M., & Corsale, A. (2010). Rural tourism and livelihood strategies in Romania. Journal of Rural Studies 26(2): 152-162.

17. Kim, M. K. (2005). Determinants of rural tourism and modeling rural tourism demand in Kore. Journal of Cleaner Production, 3(9), 1-11.

18. Mahdavi, D., Rokn al-Din Eftekari, A., & Sajasi Qidari, H. (1395/2016). Designing strategies for sustainable tourism development in historic-cultural villages of Iran. Journal of Geography and Planning, 20 (56), 275-300. [In Persian]

19. Mbaiwa, J. E., & Stronza, A. L. (2010). The effects of tourism development on rural livelihoods in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 18(5), 635-656.

20. McAreavey, R., & McDonagh, J. (2011). Sustainable rural tourism: Lessons for rural development. Sociologia Ruralis, 51(2), 175-194.

21. Moharramnejad, N. (2013). Development of environmental strategies for sustainable tourism in an Iranian national park. European Journal of Experimental Biology, 3(1), 153-160.

22. Moradi Masihi, V. (2011). Strategic planning of the metropolis to attach strategic plan in London (1th Ed.). Tehran: Processing and urban planning press. [In Persian]

23. Park, D. B., & Yoon, Y. S. (2009). Segmentation by motivation in rural tourism: A Korean case study. Journal of Tourism Management, 30(1), 99-108. ‏

24. Qadri, A. (1388/2009). The role of tourism in sustainable rural development. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran. [In Persian]

25. Rahmani Seryasat, M., Hajari, B., Karimian, T., & Hajilo, M. (2013). Rural tourism development strategies using SWOT analysis: Case study. Life Science Journal, 10(4), 395-403. ‏

26. Rokneddin Eftekhari, E., & Mahdavi, D. (1384/2003). Rural tourism development strategy by using SWOT: Rural small Lavasan. Journal of Spatial Planning, 1(2), 1– 30. [In Persian]

27. Rokneddin Eftekhari, E., & Qaderi, A. (1391/2012). The role of rural tourism in rural development (Criticism and analysis of the theoretical framework). Journal of Spatial Planning, 1(2), 23– 41. [In Persian]

28. Rokneddin Eftekhari, E., Mahdavi, D.S., & Pour Taheri, M. (1389/2010). Indigenization process indicators of sustainable development of rural tourism in Iran. Journal of Rural Studies, 1(4), 1 -41. [In Persian]

29. Sandbrook, C. G. (2010). Putting leakage in its place: the significance of retained tourism revenue in the local context in rural Uganda. Journal of International Development, 22(1), 124-136. ‏

30. Skuras, D., Petrou, A., & Clark, G. (2006). Demand for rural tourism: the effects of quality and information. Agricultural economics, 35(2), 183-192. ‏

31. Su, B. (2011). Rural tourism in China. Tourism Management, 32(6), 1438-1441. ‏

32. Taghdisi, A., Varesi, H.R., Ahmadian, M., & Asgari, H. (1394/2015). Identify and Analysis the Factors Affecting Development of Tourism in Rural Areas (Case study: Rural areas of Jiroft County). Journal of Research and Rural Planning, (1), 1-14. [In Persian]

33. Trejos, B., Chiang, L. H. N., & Huang, W. C. (2008). Support networks for community-based tourism in rural Costa Rica. The Open Area Studies Journal, 1(1), 16-25. ‏

34. Zambrano, A. M. A., Broadbent, E. N., & Durham, W. H. (2010). Social and environmental effects of ecotourism in the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica: The Lapa Rios case. Journal of Ecotourism, 9(1), 62-83.