Factors Influencing Tourism Space Commodification in the Mahmoudabad County, Northern Iran

Dickson Adom (), Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli (), Jilla Sajjadi () and Saber Sedigh ()
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Dickson Adom: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Educational Innovations in Science and Technology, Ghana
Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli: Shahid Beheshti University, The College of Earth sciences, Tehran, Iran
Jilla Sajjadi: Shahid Beheshti University, The College of Earth sciences,Tehran, Iran
Saber Sedigh: Shahid Beheshti University, The College of Earth sciences, Tehran, Iran

Journal of Tourismology, 2020, vol. 6, issue 2, 155-183

Abstract: This study examined the impacts of land-use changes as well as factors that influence tourism space commodification in Mahmoudabad County, Northern Iran. Satellite images were used to identify agricultural land-use changes while empirical data were collected from 379 local people who were randomly sampled with their views, gathered via a reliable, structured questionnaire. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics as well as the practical application of the Irridex, Tourism Area Life Cycle, and Weizenegger theoretical models. The satellite images showed massive land-use changes in agricultural lands to tourism facilities. Internal factors such as economic, environmental, and socio-cultural factors as well as external factors such as the influence of the political economy in the areas of the banking system, tax system, and government policies were noted to exacerbate tourism space commodification in the Mahmoudabad County, Northern Iran. To mitigate the increasing tourism space commodification in the study area, policymakers in government, as well as all concerned stakeholders in the tourism sector, must factor the local people into all tourism-related decision-making processes while adopting proactive ways such as tactfully using the tax system, policies forimproving agricultural production, and clear-cut tourism directives that prioritize cultural and environmental consciousness.

Keywords: Environmental factors; Political economy; Socio-cultural factors; Space commodification; Tourism; Mahmoudabad County (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ist:iupjot:v:6:y:2020:i:2:p:155-183

DOI: 10.26650/jot.2020.6.2.0008

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