Application of climate in Lake Urmia tourism planning using SWOT, TCI indicators

Dissertation for receiving a master's degree

in the field of natural geography with a focus on climatology

Abstract:

Lake Urmia National Park is one of the most interesting and beautiful natural habitats of animals in Iran after the Anzali Marsh. Lake Urmia, due to its natural advantages and God-given gifts, can become one of the important factors in attracting tourists, both domestic and foreign, and if the authorities pay attention and invest in the private sector in creating factors to attract tourists, it can become one of the important sources in the economic growth of this region. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate the influence of climatic elements on tourism in the region. In this research, in order to study and recognize the capabilities of tourism in the region, 7 climatic parameters, including minimum and maximum relative humidity, precipitation, maximum and maximum monthly daily temperature, wind speed, and sunshine hours have been used from 1995 to 2010, and its weaknesses, strengths, threats, and opportunities have been analyzed with the SWOT strategic model. became The results of this research show that the studied area has high tourism potential, but there are also threats in the studied area. which competes with these high potentials for attracting tourists. Also, the results of the TCI model show that in terms of climatic comfort, August is ideal for tourism, July is excellent, December is insignificant and marginal, November and January are marginal and acceptable, and the rest of the months are in good, very good and excellent conditions for tourism. Keywords: Lake Urmia, tourism climate, TCI, SWOT. Industries are for economic growth in developed and developing countries (Font and Ahjem [1], 1999: 63). Currently, many countries receive their economic and social benefits from tourism and use tourism revenues to develop their infrastructures (Eckles and Costa [2], 1996: 44). Among the factors affecting this tourism industry, we can mention weather and climate conditions. So that today The study of these effects has created a new branch of science, called human bioclimatology or human biometeorology (Mahmoudi, 1387: 44). The study of climatic characteristics and their temporal and spatial variations and their relationship with human activities provides methods for the analysis of environmental conditions in the framework of tourism planning (Tolaei, 2016: 24). Because one of the information needed by tourists for traveling is the climatic conditions of the destination, and most tourists pay attention to climatic considerations to choose a tourist destination. To evaluate the effect of climatic elements on human thermal comfort conditions, it is necessary to use human comfort indices (Farajzadeh and Ahmadabadi, 1388:1). The meaning of human comfort conditions or comfort zone is the set of conditions that, in terms of heat and humidity, at least 80% of the people who are randomly selected and placed in those conditions have a mental judgment of the comfort state (Kasmai, 1372:50). The expansion of the tourism industry in places that have the potential to attract tourists can be used as a useful tool for the comprehensive growth and development of the host communities. The presence of attraction is considered as a necessary and not sufficient element for the growth and development of the tourism industry, because the development of the tourism industry in any region requires accurate identification of the area, knowledge of the type of weather and the provision of services and facilities needed by tourists, and introduction to attract tourists. The development of tourism brings many and many benefits to the host communities, one of which is economic benefits. Tourism is one of the most important human benefits of the contemporary century, which along with the emergence of tremendous changes in the earth's landscape, political, economic, cultural, moral, and human life (Mehlati, 1380: 13). Harumieh Sea is a vast and highly saline sea that is located in the northwest of Iran and between the provinces of West and East Azarbaijan. This lake is located at the bottom of the catchment point of Bhattai with an area of ??approximately 52,000 square kilometers, parts of which are located in Kurdistan province.Urmia Lake is a national park and one of the largest sites in Iran, which has been introduced as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve as a pristine natural center and tourist attraction area, mostly due to the presence of pristine and untouched natural attractions and the presence of a large number of freshwater and brackish water satellite wetlands around this lake, many of which are of global importance in terms of biodiversity (Lake Urmia Comprehensive Management Program, 1388: 13). According to the mentioned materials, it is possible to accurately identify suitable conditions for attracting tourists in terms of (ecological conditions and thermal comfort) in Lake Urmia with careful planning. The general purpose of this research was to investigate the effective climatic factors in the tourism of the Four Rivers of Rumyeh using TCI and SWOT indicators, and at the same time we will investigate and analyze the correlation factors of the natural and human phenomena that attract tourism in the studied area. It is that country and without investment in infrastructure and superstructure projects, we cannot expect to expand employment, production and economic prosperity. Investing in tourism infrastructure and using regional potential to attract tourists is one of the appropriate ways for economic development (Ebrahimzadeh and Aghasizadeh, 1388: 108). In today's era, tourism is considered as one of the effective factors in the expansion of relations between nations, but its development requires special facilities such as weather, historical and cultural monuments, natural attractions, customs and traditions, infrastructures and facilities. Understanding this importance, countries are starting to provide suitable facilities and equipment in order to attract tourism. With the increase in population and the increasing growth of cities on the one hand and the recent significant developments in the transportation network and technology and other elements of human life on the other hand, the motivations for the need to travel and tourist trips also increase with each passing day. Since the late 1960s, the tourism industry has grown significantly in its global dimensions, as in 2006, the number of international tourists reached 808 million people, and it is predicted that during the 2020s, tourism will be considered the number one industry in the world (Meshaiai, 1389: 114). Iran is one of the first ten countries with the potential of the tourism industry, the income from the tourism industry can potentially replace the oil industry in Iran. This situation has been taken into consideration by mentioning traditional studies to modern methods and information technology in recent years. The importance of the issue is so clear and transparent that in the world of technology, most of the internet sites of the provinces and especially the famous sites of Iran pay special attention to ancient monuments and tourism in order to introduce local, regional, national and international capabilities, and even in local advertisements, both at the local level and at the national and international levels, they refer to the touristic and ancient capabilities. Capabilities, limitations, opportunities and threats of tourism should be explained according to the new approaches and macro and micro plans of the country (Kyani, 2009: 2). Lake Urmia is the largest permanent reservoir in Western Asia, which is located in the northwest of Iran, and is the 20th largest lake in the world and the second hypersaline lake in the world. Its area is estimated to be 5100 square kilometers on average, this lake is one of the most important natural habitats in the region and due to its unique reasons, UNESCO (1976) has been recognized as a national park (Rosoli and Jahanbakhsh 2017). With proper planning, this lake can become a magnet for Iran's tourism, and this research is also carried out in line with this important goal. In terms of attracting tourism, it is almost in the last ranks of the world. According to the statistics of 2002, the World Tourism Organization [3] (W.T.O), only 2.4% of the number and 1.6% of the world's tourism income is allocated to Iran. In the twenty-year vision of the country in the horizon of 1404, gaining 2% of the global tourism income and 1.5% of international tourists, i.e. 20 million tourists, is considered as the goal. The realization of these goals will be possible if tourism potentials are firstly identified, and secondly, they are recognized at the international level as well as at the domestic level. In Iran, the diversity of weather and climate can be considered as a source of tourism, and the optimal use of these potentials with the aim of improving the quality of tourism leads to the development of tourism (Ismaili et al., 2019: 3).