A futuristic approach to sustainable tourism development: Lessons from Kandovan village

Abstract

In spite of the enormous efforts and implementation of the masterplans for the development of rural areas in Iran, the majority face economic, social, and ecological challenges that jeopardize their future, particularly where tourism has been prescribed as a panacea. Among those, Kandovan, known as the only inhabited rocky village in the world that attracts half a million visitors, annually entails excessive consideration and as a case embraces imperative contributions to the sustainability-future research domain. This study aims to contribute to an enhanced understanding of the nexus between "sustainable development" and the "future" in tourist destinations. Through the analysis of the secondary data, this study takes a scenario-planning approach and discusses the current social, environmental, and economic themes: the foundation of four potential future scenarios. The underpinned framework in the context of Kandovan offers noteworthy implications both in theory and practice of tourism by proposing an area-based planning model according to the emerged alternative scenario. © 2018, IGI Global.