Sustainable Tourism Development in Chabahar: An Approach to Overcome Underdevelopment

The tourism industry plays a significant role in the development of countries around the world. This industry is considered a suitable strategy for developing countries, especially in less-developed areas or in situations where the profits of other economic sectors are declining. In Chabahar, as the case study of the present study, tourism has not reached a favorable position and provided opportunities for local and regional development, despite the location of this region in a unique geographical area with many natural and domestic assets and values. The present study aims to apply the sustainable tourism development approach (which was formed due to the adverse consequences of the traditional tourism paradigm) in Chabahar. To this end, qualitative content analysis and semi-structured interviews are used. The present study is carried out in the following steps: the review of the theoretical foundations related to sustainable development tourism, recognition and analysis of the case study in terms of the structures of the natural and living environments, and the tourism status, the review of high-level documents, and interviewing with local managers, tourist, and those familiar with the region. Unlike other existing research that has mainly examined and analyzed tourism in Chabahar in the economic dimension, the present research considers natural, recreational, cultural, and rural tourism to take advantage of the sustainable tourism development approach, in addition to investigating the reasons for the failure of the tourism industry in Chabahar, and provides some suggestions and policies in different economic, cultural, recreational, and political dimensions.