Identification and analysis of factors affecting the development of War Zone Tourism in Kurdistan Province -Case Study: Marivan City

One of the new products, destinations and types of tourism that can be well utilized for the socio-economic reconstruction of the border areas, is war tourism. Almost after World War II, the war tourism idea which had no objectives except reviving the war zones and improving the economic conditions in these areas attractedthe attentions. War tourism is a type of black tourism, which is considered to be the most visited type of black tourism. Despite the public fear of death, the interest of tourists to visit the places which have experienced natural and human disasters is on the rise. The main issue addressed in this research is that, up until now, tourism activities related to the war have failed to gain a considerable place in economic and social sustainabilityin the city of Marivan considering its potentials in this city. The main objective of the present research is to identify and analyze the status of tourism in the region with a systematic approach, because tourism as a system composed of various elements can only play its role in the realization of developing war-torn areas, once all elements of the system in terms of quantity and quality are placed together in a coordinated set in such a way that includesall the players of the extensive scene of tourismso that the obstacles and problems of war tourism development in the city are detected in the first place and then, the practical solutions for the development of this type of tourism to create the bases for economic and social reconstruction of the war-torn region of Marivan are suggested.

Methods and Materials: The present applied research is descriptive-analytical in terms of method.Documentary resources were used to collect information in the theoretical part;and in the field part, a survey method based on interviews and questionnaires was used. The statistical population of this exploratory research includes two groups, officials, specialists, local experts in the field of development and tourism of the city, as well as those people who have travelled to the areasand war memorials of Marivan city in the form of Rahian-e-Nour camp.

Discussion and Findings: Analysis of interviews with tourists, informed people and experts in the field of tourism and development authorities of the cityidentified 43 indicators in 9 components (categories) and in two main dimensions of supply and demand. Meanwhile, 3 components of motivation and low willingness to visit the region, the lack of familiarity with the area and its attractions, and theexpensesof travelling to the region are related to the demand dimension, and 6 components of the lack of facilities, welfare and accommodation services,inappropriate quality of information, education and advertising, poor transportation structures, inappropriate quality of tourist attractions, the lack of attention, supervision and desirable performance of public institutions, and poor local participation are related to supply dimension of the region’s tourism. In the next step, the results of the factor analysis testwere used to confirm the extractedresults from the research findings, summarizationand determination of the factors (obstacles and problems) affecting the development of war tourism in the region. The results showed that the formed factors are capable of explaining 66 percent of the changes and shaping the present situation. Five main factors were formed. The highest factor load was related to the shortage of service, accommodation and welfare facilities, and the expenses of the trip; and the lowest was related to the motivation factor and low tendency to visit the region as well as the weakness of transportation structures. The results of the course analysis test showed that the undesirable conditions of the supply dimension had the greatest impact on the development of war tourism in the region. This dimension also affects the status of the demand dimension indirectly. The type of relationship and effectiveness were also calculated positive and direct so that it can be said that the more desirable the status of the components of the tourism supply dimensions of the region,the more will improve the status of demand dimension and its indicators which means that, by improvement of the conditions of supply dimension, more demands will be created for visiting the region and the war tourism will revive in the region. Given the fact that the quality of demand is subject to the conditions of supply dimension, undoubtedly the undesirable conditions of war tourism of the Marivan city, have a significant role in the formation of the weakness in this demand dimension. Therefore, it is necessary to organize and improve the conditions of the war tourism supply dimension of the city at first, in order to increase the resultant of the issue and continue the demand for visiting the attractions of war. In the meantime,the role of responsible governmentalagencieswhich requires a great deal of coordination and efficiency with regard to the multidimensionality of tourismwill be very significant.