Effects of Geomorpholosites in Mountainous Area on Tourism Development (The Case of: Northwest of Neishabour-Firoozeh City)

Geotourism and Geomorphotourism is a responsible, protective and scientific approach to unique natural phenomena in the context of geomorphosite identification. One of the strategies for creating new employment is the development of the tourism industry based on the monitoring of diverse, fun and attractive natural places with appropriate access levels. This study was designed to investigate the effects of geomorphosites on tourism development in the northwestern region of Neishabour and Firoozeh city of Khorasan Razavi province. The type of research was applied and was described by descriptive-analytical method and field survey technique and analysis of valid documents and model of geotourism potentials including geosites, geomorphosites as well as cultural and economic sites. A total of 50 tourist attractions in the 36 geosite area were analyzed. Findings showed that according to the study of the general values ​​of geosites, Firoozeh mine with 87% score is ranked first, Bar Abshar with 83 score are ranked second and salt mines with 81 points are ranked third in tourism development in the region. Out of 36 geosites, only 6 were ranked less than 50%, and in addition to natural geosites, cultural and economic sites were also very important in attracting tourism to the region. These results indicate that the existence of different and diverse tourism sites in the northwestern region of Neishabour and the city of Firoozeh (7,000 years-old), which requires the possibility of visiting different groups of tourists, can indicate the potential of the region. To become the hub of a national geopark and geotourism.