Tourism Spatial Planning and Regional development

Provincial spatial planning documents (Amayesh) are critical for strategic tourism development in Iran. This study provides a critical, comparative analysis of how tourism is integrated into the 31 provincial spatial planning documents approved in 2020. Using a comprehensive documentary research method, we assessed these documents through a three-dimensional framework: conceptual, spatial, and institutional quality, alongside GIS-based spatial validation. Findings reveal that while tourism is identified as a development priority—with 37 specialized tourism approaches identified—its integration faces structural challenges. Conceptually, documents suffer from vague, non-quantitative objectives. Spatially, there is a significant mismatch between textual planning and GIS-based data. Institutionally, inter-agency coordination, implementation guarantees, and monitoring systems remain largely symbolic. Furthermore, inconsistent planning horizons (ranging from 2025 to 2046) undermine national coherence. We conclude that effective tourism planning in Iran requires a shift toward evidence-based strategies, multi-criteria spatial prioritization, and clear institutional accountability matrices.

Keywords: Regional Spatial Planning, Tourism Spatial Planning, Regional Development, Provincial Spatial Planning Document.