Obstacles and Solutions to Improve the Ecolodge Business Ecosystem in Ramsar Tourism Destination

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 MA graduate, Geography and Tourism Planning, Human Geography, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Geography and Rural Planning, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

3 Professor, Geography and Rural Planning, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Context and Purpose: The main goal of this research is to identify obstacles and solutions to improve the ecolodge business environment in Ramsar tourist destinations from the point of view of the local ecolodge managers.
Design/methodology/approach: The current study is exploratory and qualitative in terms of purpose and nature. The research data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with regional and local managers and were combined and interpreted through content analysis. The statistical population of the research included 28 local ecolodge managers in Ramsar city.
Findings:By examining the answers provided by the tourism managers, 25 obstacles/limitations were extracted and categorized into 11 factors. After the secondary examination of extraction obstacles and factors, the researchers realized the internal, external, and macro-micro pair nature of these extraction cases, which were formulated as a matrix. Moreover, by examining the responses provided by local and regional managers, 11 solutions for developing the ecolodge business environment in Ramsar city were extracted and categorized into four factors.
Conclusion: According to local and regional ecolodge managers, the most important obstacles include obtaining permits, education, financial, and infrastructure factors, and the most important solutions include education, policy guidance, support policy, and standardization of services.
Originality/value: The combination of obstacles and solutions to improve the environment of ecolodge business in Ramsar tourism destination from the point of view of the local and regional ecolodge managers leads to the presentation of a factor surface model of the ecolodge business’s ecosystem.

Keywords

References

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Tourism and hospitality marketing research
Volume 2, Issue 1 - Serial Number 2
Spring and Summer
June 2024
Pages 7-28

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