Ecotourism potential assessment for Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan using integration of GIS, remote sensing, AHP and crowd-sourced data

Abstract

It is widely believed that the tourism industry, particularly ecotourism, contributes significantly for sustainable development. However, planning for ecotourism development is a multi-criteria process that commonly involves spatial analysis. A MCDA model was presented and applied for ecotourism suitability analysis in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. This study attempts to identify potential ecotourism sites using GIS and AHP by collecting Remote Sensing and Crowed-sourced data in mountainous regions where geospatial data is sparse. Fifteen factors influencing the ecotourism were selected based on local knowledge and expert opinion. The criteria layers cover natural beauty, infrastructure, physical and social parameters of the stud area. Results revealed that about 16.2% of study areas had very low suitability and 11.5% of the study area has very high suitability, of which 37% falls in most suitable elevation range (2600–3200 m). The findings and method employed will be useful to decision-makers and planners in the study area.

Keywords:

• Tourism
• geospatial
• mapping
• multi-criteria decision analysis
• planning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.