Analyzing the ranking of security challenges of tourism development: A case study of Mazandaran Province, Iran - Theory and Practice in Hospitality and Tourism Research - page 569

province in 1937, Mazandaran was declared the sec-
ond modern province after the neighboring Gilan.
The diverse nature of the province features plains,
prairies, forests and rainforests stretching from the
sandy beaches of the Caspian Sea to the rugged
and snowcapped Alborz mountain range, includ-
ing Mount Damavand, one of the highest peaks
and volcano in Asia, which at the narrowest point
(Nowshahr County) is 5 miles. Mazandaran is a
major producer of fish, and aquaculture provides
an important economic addition to the traditional
dominance of agriculture. Another important con-
tributor to the economy is the tourism industry, as
people from all over Iran enjoy visiting the area.

Table 1. Challenges of tourism security in Mazandaran,
arranged according to importance level in the first step
of Delphi method.

Row Security challenges of tourism Number

1 High costs of residence which left the

tourists stranded outside and so
decreased their security level

23

2 Illegal tourism facilities 23

3 Lack of security insurance of tourists

by the investors of tourism facilities

23

4 Inadequate cooperation of the local

communities with the police

23

5 Unfamiliarity of tour leaders with

security issues

22

6 Lack of a comprehensive and strategic

program, and the tourism aims not
defined in the form of an executive
program

21

4 RESULT

The results are presented in the form of summaries
and tables.

7 Qualitative and quantitative weakness

of land transportation facilities
decreasing the financial and life
security

21

4.1 The first step of Delphi method
4.1.1 Opinions of panel members about challenges
of tourism security in Mazandaran
In the first step, the panel members proposed 21
challenges as possible challenges of tourism devel-
opment in terms of security. Similar challenges
were combined and 10 remained. Table 1 shows
these challenges. According to Table 1, the most
frequent challenges (frequency distribution of 23)
are: 'lack of security insurance of tourists by the
investors of tourism facilities',' inadequate coop-
eration of the local communities with the police',
'illegal tourism facilities', and 'high costs of resi-
dence which left the tourists stranded outside and
so decreased their security level'.

8 Lack of security for investors to invest

on tourism development

20

9 Lack of full support of tourist sites on

the part of the police because of their
abundance and distribution

18

10 Relative weakness to provide security

for historical texture tourists in not
crowded and low traffic hours

12

Table 2. Strategies to increase tourism security in Maz-
andaran in the first step of Delphi method.

Row Strategies Number

1 Performing different conferences and

seminars to develop tourism security

5

4.1.2 Opinions of panel members about strategies
to increase tourism security in Mazandaran
In this step, panel members proposed seventeen
strategies to increase the tourism security. Some of
them were combined, and six strategies remained.
Table 2 shows these strategies. According to this
table, the most frequent strategies (frequency
distribution of eleven) are: 'promoting coopera-
tion between the police and the travel agencies',
and 'familiarizing the tour guides with security
challenges'.

2 Familiarizing the tour guides with

security challenges

9

3 Establishing security in tourist sites

especially for eco—tourism tours

8

4 Seriously punishing those who guide

tourists illegally

6

5 Promoting cooperation between the

police and the travel agencies

9

6 Increasing the safety of the

transportation system

7

security level' was the most important in tourism
security of Mazandaran. According to Table 3,
in five questions there was a strong agreement
among panel members (SD

4.2 The second step of Delphi method
4.2.1 Agreement level of panel members with the
ranking of questions
In the second step, panel members recognized that
from ten challenges that they had introduced in the
first step, 'High costs of residence which left the
tourists stranded outside and so decreased their

1). However no agree-
ment was found on the following question: 'relative
weakness to provide security for historical texture
tourists in not crowded and low traffic hours' (aver-
age of 2.01).

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