Tourism and hospitality research on Iran: current state and perspectives

ABSTRACT

The tourism industry in Iran has grown rapidly following the relaxation of sanctions in the wake of the recent landmark nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). However, despite the significance of tourism in the country, no study has previously provided an examination of research trends of tourism and hospitality studies on Iran. This review provides an overview of 180 papers identified in academic and bibliometric databases between 2000 and 2016. Through content analysis, the empirical findings indicate that the number of publications is continuously increasing since the nuclear accord, and the dominant research themes/foci identified among the Iranian tourism research community are tourism development followed by tourism marketing and ecotourism. The majority of the articles used empirical techniques and there is a tendency toward multiple-authorship. The history and scope of sanctions on Iran since the establishment of the theocratic Islamic Republic of 1979 and its consequences on the scientific research are also explained. Implications for the further development of tourism and hospitality research in Iran particularly in the light of softening of sanctions are also discussed.

摘要

在最近达成的具有里程碑意义的核协议 ⟪联合全面行动计划⟫(JCPOA)之后, 对伊朗放松了制裁, 使得伊朗的旅游业迅速发展。然而, 尽管旅游业在这个国家的意义重大, 但之前没有任何研究考察伊朗旅游和接待业研究的发展趋势。本文综述了2000至2016年间在学术和文献计量数据库中发现的180篇论文。通过内容分析, 实证结果表明, 自 ⟪核协议⟫ 签署之后旅游接待研究出版物数量持续增长, 伊朗旅游学界最主要的研究主题是旅游发展, 其次是旅游营销和生态旅游。大多数文章采用了实证主义的方法, 并且有多位作者合作发表的倾向。本文也解释了自1979年伊朗政教合一的伊斯兰共和国成立以来对伊朗的制裁的历史和范围及其对科学研究的影响, 还讨论了对伊朗旅游和接待业研究进一步发展的启示, 特别是对伊朗放松制裁后对旅游与接待业研究的启示。

KEYWORDS:

• Iran tourism
• hospitality
• content analysis
• tourism research
• sanctions
• Iran nuclear

关键词:

• 伊朗旅游
• 接待业
• 内容分析
• 旅游研究
• 制裁
• 伊朗核实验

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Siamak Seyfi

Siamak Seyfi is a PhD candidate in Geography within the EIREST (Interdisciplinary Research Group for Tourism Studies) at the University of Pantheon-Sorbonne, France. His research interests include sustainability and community development, resident attitudes, and social innovation in tourism.

C. Michael Hall

C. Michael Hall is a Professor in the Department of Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand and is also Docent, Department of Geography, University of Oulu, Finland. He holds visiting positions in Finland, Sweden and South Africa. He is the author and editor of over 80 books as well as over 200 journal articles and 400 book chapters.

Salar Kuhzady

Salar Kuhzady is a PhD candidate in the department of tourism management at Mersin University, Turkey. His main research interests include tourism marketing, e-tourism, strategic marketing, and data visualization.