Rapid ecotourism development and challenges: the case of ecolodge in Iran

ABSTRACT

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of ecolodges in Iran supported by the government tourism policies. This is also as the country is witnessing a growing interest in popularity of ecotourism trips particularly in northern part of the country. However, such development has also created many issues as the rapid expansion of the ecolodges does not necessarily follow the required guidelines. The purpose of this study is to identify the main problems and challenges of ecolodges in three provinces of Gilan, Golestan and Mazandaran in northern Iran. Qualitative data was collected by interviewing the ecolodge owners in the three provinces. The data analysis led to the formation of 3 main themes and 8 sub-themes. The findings revealed that issues such as the lack of support from the government organizations, weakness in tourism laws and policies, problems related to the geography of ecolodges, lack of knowledge, and also problems related to the local community perceptions are among the problems and challenges ecolodges are facing.

KEYWORDS:

• Tourism
• ecotourism
• ecolodge
• Mazandaran
• Gilan
• Golestan

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hamid Reza Irani

Hamid Reza Irani is an Assistant Professor of entrepreneurship and marketing at Department of Business Management, College of Farabi, university of Tehran, Iran. He is the Director-in-Charge of Iranian Journal of management Studies and editorial board member of International Journal of Organizational Leadership. He is interested in digital marketing, entrepreneurship, tourism and marketing channels. His research appeared in refereed academic journals such as Advances in Hospitality and Tourism Research, Journal of Entrepreneurship & Organization Management, and Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing.

Mehdi Golverdi

Mehdi Golverdi is an Assistant Professor of public administration at Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ardakan University, Ardakan, Iran. He gained PhD and Master degree from the University of Tehran in public administration. He is interested in behavioral Public Policy, Organizational Behavior and Qualitative Research.

Raymond Rastegar

Raymond Rastegar holds a PhD in tourism management and is a Lecturer and researcher in Tourism at the UQ Business School, University of Queensland. His research focuses on sustainable tourism development in developing countries with specific interest in local community livelihood, participation, empowerment, and environmental conservation. Recent research projects have investigated the impacts of tourism at local level and delivered new insights into the tourism phenomenon to advocate a more just and sustainable tourism future.

Soheil Rezaei

Soheil Rezaei has an MBA degree from the University of Tehran. His research focuses on tourism and ecotourism development in Iran.