Urban Tourism and Sustainable Urban Development: A Case Study of Alashtar City

Abstract

Urban tourism is considered a highly significant factor in the development of cities due to its strong potential to attract tourists. Sustainable tourism development is a type of tourism that leads to the management of all resources in a manner that meets the needs of current tourists and host communities without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The development of the tourism industry in Alashtar, without a proper tourism development planning framework, may result in irreparable damage and losses. In recent years, tourism in Alashtar has experienced a decline in tourist attraction. This study has been formed with the aim of examining the tourism industry’s impact on sustainable urban development in the city of Alashtar. The research method is descriptive-analytical, and the data were collected through library and documentary methods, as well as by using a questionnaire. The statistical population of the research includes two groups: experts and residents of the city of Alashtar. The sample size consisted of 20 experts and 383 residents. For experts, the sampling was done using purposive judgmental sampling, and for residents, simple random sampling was applied. The results of this study indicated that the economic role component in the tourism industry had the highest impact intensity, with a value of 0.713, while the environmental role had the lowest impact, with a value of 0.221. Upon examining the forthcoming strategies, it was found that the selected strategy is one of revision or adaptation. This strategy essentially aims to minimize weaknesses and activate existing opportunities.