Tourism planning and policy making of the Islamic Republic of Iran : analysis of the four five-year development plans

In recent years tourism industry has been considered as a profitable and entrepreneurial industry. Iran has a large number and wide variety of tourism attractions that give it a strong potential for tourism development. To reach the goal of a successful sustainable tourism development, Iran needs careful planning, systematic implementation of the plans and continuous and effective management. For this purpose, the present thesis aims to recognize the problems and weaknesses of tourism development plans of Iran (after Iran-Iraq war), and examine if the Stakeholders Theory has been considered in these plans. To this end the four Five-year Socio-cultural and Economic Development Plans are analyzed and it is concluded that the Stakeholders Theory has not been considered in tourism planning of Iran. This leads the weaknesses of the plans and creates many other problems. As tourism industry is interdependent and multidisciplinary, close cooperation and coordination among government and all other stakeholders is required and vital for sustainable tourism development in Iran. At the end of this thesis, some suggestions for improving the existing situation of tourism in Iran are presented. For instance, introducing a representative from the Tourism Organization to every individual ministry is suggested to act as a means for collaboration and harmony among different ministries. This research is descriptive (content analysis). The needed information is collected through library (books, journals, and newspapers), internet and TV programs.Validerat; 20101217 (root