A model proposal for branding ecotourism in protected areas: The case of Golestan, Iran

Depending on the growth of the tourism sector, the uncontrolled use and destruction of natural and cultural landscape resource values has brought an alternative understanding of tourism to the agenda. Ecotourism, which is a nature-based sustainable tourism, aims to protect natural habitats, species, local and traditional texture, tourism resources to bring direct economic benefits to local people, and raise awareness about the protection of natural and cultural landscape values. For the healthy development of ecotourism in areas with ecological and cultural sensitivity, ecotourism strategies should be determined and the awareness of ecotourism of tourists and local people should be increased. Within the scope of this study, Golestan province, located in the northeast of Iran, which hosts different climatic conditions, fauna and flora diversity, different protection statuses and different cultural life style, was examined as the study area. However, the lack of tourism plan, lack of technical infrastructure, lack of advertising and information, lack of awareness and experience about ecotourism, uncontrolled hunting and illegal construction negatively affect these sensitive ecological and cultural landscape values. This study aims to determine the ecotourism criteria of Golestan, which has a conservation value, and to develop strategies for a sustainable ecotourism branding. To achieve this aim, SWOT (Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats) analysis, which reveals the current state of the study area, and multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) method consisting of AHP (the Analytic Hierarchy Process) and BWM (the Best and Worst Method) hybrid were integrated. In this context, a field study and a survey consisting of local people, experts, and visitors were conducted and the most appropriate ecotourism strategies for the branding of the study area were ranked according to their priorities. The results of this study reveal that among the 5 main ecotourism criteria and 20 sub ecotourism criteria, "having natural protected areas", which is an opportunity, and "having ecological values", which is a strength, were determined as the highest priority strategies for ecotourism branding in Golestan. This result exhibits the primary role of Golestan's conservation and ecological value in ecotourism branding. The methods and results of this quantitative-based research present an exemplary hybrid and integrated model that prioritizes the strategies required for branding ecotourism in similar conservation areas.