Tourism planning and policy making of the Islamic Republic of Iran: analysis of the four five-year development plans

M A S T E R ' S T H E S I S

Tourism Planning and Policy making of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Analysis of the four Five-year Development Plans

Roxana Faghri

Luleå University of Technology Master Thesis, Continuation Courses

Marketing and e-commerce

Department of Business Administration and Social Sciences Division of Industrial marketing and e-commerce

2008:019 - ISSN: 1653-0187 - ISRN: LTU-PB-EX--08/019--SE

Tourism Planning and Policy making of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Analysis of the four Five-year Development Plans)

Supervisors:

Professor Mahmood Ketabi Doctor Peter U. C. Dieke

By:

Roxana Faghri

December 2007

Acknowledgements

First, I would like to thank the principal and staff of Lulea University and International Scientific Cooperation Office of Isfahan University.

I am very grateful to my supervisor, Prof. Mahmood Ketabi for his guidance during this research. I also thank Dr. Peter Dieke, my foreign supervisor. Furthermore, I should thank all my professors during my study: Professor Jafar Jafari, Aguilo Perez, Metin Kozak, Joao Sarmento, Moez Limayem, Joseph S. Chen, Ali Sanayei and …

I should express my deepest respect and appreciation to my parents, since they encouraged

me to continue my education and I never could do it without their spiritually and financially

help and support. Also, I offer my gratitude to my best friend and my husband, Shahram

Rahili for his understanding and support. Finally, I owe special thanks to my little daughter,

Hana, because she patiently perceived my situation and let me study hard.

Abstract

In recent years tourism industry has been considered as a profitable and entrepreneurial industry. Iran has a large number and wide variety of tourism attractions that give it a strong potential for tourism development. To reach the goal of a successful sustainable tourism development, Iran needs careful planning, systematic implementation of the plans and continuous and effective management.

For this purpose, the present thesis aims to recognize the problems and weaknesses of tourism development plans of Iran (after Iran-Iraq war), and examine if the Stakeholders Theory has been considered in these plans. To this end the four Five-year Socio-cultural and Economic Development Plans are analyzed and it is concluded that the Stakeholders Theory has not been considered in tourism planning of Iran. This leads the weaknesses of the plans and creates many other problems.

As tourism industry is interdependent and multidisciplinary, close cooperation and coordination among government and all other stakeholders is required and vital for sustainable tourism development in Iran. At the end of this thesis, some suggestions for improving the existing situation of tourism in Iran are presented. For instance, introducing a representative from the Tourism Organization to every individual ministry is suggested to act

as a means for collaboration and harmony among different ministries.

This research is descriptive (content analysis). The needed information is collected through library (books, journals, and newspapers), internet and TV programs.

Key words: tourism development, tourism policy, plan, objective, sustainable tourism,

stakeholder, carrying capacity

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Topic Page

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...1

1-1- I

NTRODUCTION

:...1

1-2- K

EY

W

ORDS

:...1

1-3- S

TATEMENT OF THE

P

ROBLEM

:...5

1-4- S

IGNIFICANCE OF THE

P

ROBLEM

: ...7

1-5- L

ITERATURE

R

EVIEW

: ...8

1-6- O

BJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH

:...11

1-7- R

ESEARCH

Q

UESTIONS

:...12

1-8- R

ESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

:...12

1-9- M

ETHODOLOGY

:...12

1-9-1- Research Methodology...12

1-9-2- Research Limitations ...13

1-10- D

ISCUSSION IN FUTURE CHAPTERS

: ...13

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ...14

2-1- I

NTRODUCTION

:...14

2-2-T

HE EVOLUTION OF THE RESEARCH SUBJECT

...14

2-3-T

HE

F

IRST

F

IVE

-

YEAR

S

OCIO

-

CULTURAL

&

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN

(1989-1993) ...17

2-3-1-Qualitative goals...17

2-3-2-Strategies...17

2-3-3-Quantitative Purposes...18

2-3-4-General policies ...18

2-3-5-Executive Program...19

2-3-6-Developmental and improvement program of domestic and international tourism: ...19

2-3-7-Executive activities and procedure ...20

2-4-T

HE

S

ECOND

F

IVE

-

YEAR

S

OCIO

-

CULTURAL

& E

CONOMIC

D

EVELOPMENT PLAN

(1994- 1998) ...20

2-4-1-Qualitative goals...20

2-4-2-Fundamental Policies and Strategies ...21

2-4-3-Quantitative goals and executive programs of public sector...22

2-4-4-Hajj programs...22

2-4-5-Executive Actions:...23

2-4-6-Quantitative goals of private sector and required activities ...23

2-4-7-Required Actions...23

2-5-T

HE

T

HIRD

F

IVE

-

YEAR

S

OCIO

-

CULTURAL

& E

CONOMIC

D

EVELOPMENTAL

P

LAN

(1999- 2003) ...24

2-5-1-Strategic Policies for Cultural Heritage and Tourism ...24

2-5-2-Executive Policies ...25

2-5-3-Executive Activities ...26

2-6-T

HE

F

ORTH

F

IVE

-

YEAR

S

OCIO

-

CULTURAL

& E

CONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN

(2004- 2009) ...28

2-6-1- Executive policies...28

2-7- A

PPLIED RESEARCH

...30

2-8-S

UMMARY

...49

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...51

3-1- I

NTRODUCTION

...51

3-2- M

ETHODOLOGY

...51

3-3-T

HE

P

ROCEDURE

...52

3-3-1- The first phase: preparatory stage...52

3-3-2- The Second Phase: Studying Stage ...53

3-3-3- The Third Phase: Analyzing Stage...53

3-3-4- The Fourth Phase: Concluding and Suggesting Stage ...53

3-3-5-The Fifth Phase: Revising Stage ...53

3-4-

SUMMARY

...53

CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ...54

4-1-I

NTRODUCTION

...54

4-2- W

HAT ARE THE WEAKNESSES OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT PLANS IN

I

RAN AFTER

I

RAN

- I

RAQ WAR

?...54

4-2-1- Analysis of the First Five-Year Socio-Cultural and Economic Development Plan

(1989-1993)...54

4-2-2-Analysis of the Second Five-year Socio-cultural and Economic Development Plan

(1994-1998)...55

4-2-3-Analysis of the Third Five-year Socio-cultural and Economic Development Plan (1999-2003)...55

4-2-4- Analysis of the Forth Five-years Socio-cultural and Economic Development Plan (2004- 2008)...57

4-3- T

HE INTERNAL

&

EXTERNAL FACTORS WHICH AFFECT THE OPERATION OF THE

F

IRST

, S

ECOND

, T

HIRD AND

F

ORTH

D

EVELOPMENT

P

LANS

...58

4-4- O

VERALL EVALUATION OF THE FUNCTION OF THE FOUR

F

IVE

-

YEAR

D

EVELOPMENT

P

LANS

...59

4-5- H

OW CAN THESE WEAKNESSES BE REMOVED

? ...61

4-6- T

HE ANALOGY BETWEEN THE OBTAINED RESULTS AND THE RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

...61

4-7- W

HAT SUGGESTIONS ARE PROPOSED FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN

I

RAN

? (A

CCORDING TO ITS SOCIO

-

CULTURAL ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL SITUATION

)...67

4-7-1-Introducing a representative from the Tourism Organization to every individual ministry ...67

4-7-2- Planning tourism in a way that stakeholders are consulted and involved ...69

4-7-3- Observing required steps in tourism planning such as: ...69

4-7-4- Using technical considerations for sustainable tourism planning, such as: ...70

4-7-5- Defining specific codes of ethics and practice for the tourism industry of Iran: .70 4-7-6- Defining “Code of Ethics” for tourists:...70

4-7-7- Creating public awareness programs about tourism to gain community support for tourism development ...71

4-7-8- Identifying target markets which we should serve...71

4-7-9-Empowering the local tourism organizations and moving toward decentralization ...72

4-7-10- Facilitating privatization and public-private partnership through effective new ways...72

4-7-11- Developing human resources of tourism industry ...73

4-7-12- Promoting regional cooperation in sustainable tourism development...73

4-7-13- Coordinating marketing activities with neighboring countries or successful tourist destinations in the region ...74

4-7-14- Using new methods of management and leadership...74

4-7-15- The last but not least, Developing new forms of tourism……….75

4-8- S

UMMARY

...75

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION...76

5-1-I

NTRODUCTION

:...76

5-2-C

ONCLUSIONS

: ...76

5-3-S

UGGESTIONS

...77

5-4- S

UMMARY

...78

5-5- S

UGGESTIONS TO FUTURE RESEARCHERS

...79

REFERENCES ...80

Table of Tables

Table Page

Table 4-1 Number of Tourist arrivals to the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1965-2003 ...60 Table 4-2 A brief review of weaknesses and strengths of the plans ...66

Table of Figures

Figure Page

Figure 2-1 Disciplinary inputs to the tourism field ……..……….……….31 Figure 4-1 ………68

Note: In the present thesis, all of dates are presented according to Christian calendar.

By subtracting 621 years from Christian dates, dates in solar calendar can be obtained.

Chapter One

1-1- Introduction:

With its rich cultural heritage and ancient civilization, the Islamic Republic of Iran has a variety of outstanding tourist attraction and potential from several points of view. For centuries, the hospitable people of Iran have understood the necessity of cultural interaction and exchange and have been hosting many tourists from all over the world. Today considering the positive cultural and economic effects of the tourism industry, Iranian welcome the worldwide development of this dynamic industry and they also involved in seeking measures for the development of this industry at the national and international levels.

The present research is the reason of this claim.

The first chapter of this thesis is the introductory chapter. First of all, some key words related to the discussion are coming. Then the problem and significance of it which is the reason for studying and analysing the tourism planning and policymaking of Iran is discussed. A review of literature will be presented in this chapter to acquaint the reader with relevant researches and theories in tourism planning. This review helps identify key issues in tourism development planning of Iran. According to objectives of the thesis which are pointed out in this chapter, the research questions and hypothesis are coming. Study and analysis of the four Five-year development plans of Iran helps to answer to these questions and examine the base theory (the Stakeholders Theory). The research methodology and limitations, and also the organization of the coming chapters are the last parts of chapter One.

1-2- Key Words:

Tourism Industry:

The entire world industry of the travel, hotels, transportation and all other components,

including promotion that serves the needs and wants of travelers. (Goeldner, 2006)

Tourism development:

Tourism development is a development that aims at developing infrastructures and providing recreation facilities for visitors & residents alike. Tourism development means establishing a development program consistent with the cultural, social, and economic philosophy of the government and the people of the host country or area while optimizing visitor satisfaction.

(Goeldner, 2006)

Tourism Policy:

“A set of regulations, rules, guidelines, directives, and development/promotion objectives and strategies that provide a framework within which the collective and individual decisions directly affecting long-term tourism development and the daily activities within a destination are taken.” (Goeldner & Ritchie, 2003)

Objective:

`Objective' refers to what is expected to be achieved from the planning of tourism development.

(Inskeep, 1991)

Strategic Planning:

Strategic planning is a process by which the guiding members of a community or group envision its future and develop the necessary procedure to achieve that future. It also represents a process through which members of a community or organization attempt to create their future with regard to the realities of their external environment and internal capabilities (Hanlan, Fuller, Wild, 2006).

Plan:

`Plan' refers to an orderly arrangement of parts of an overall system that reflects the policy;

(Inskeep, 1991)

Strategy:

`Strategy' refers to the means of accomplishing the policy and plan recommendations.

(Inskeep, 1991)

Stakeholder:

[A] stakeholder in an organization is (by definition) any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization’s objectives (Freeman, 1984). Thus, a group qualifies as a stakeholder if it has a legitimate interest in aspects of the organization’s activities (Donaldson and Preston 1995) and, thus, according to Freeman, has either the power to affect the firm’s performance and/or has a stake in the firm’s performance.

(Sautter and Leisen, 1999)

Sustainable tourism:

- Sustainable tourism is tourism and associated infrastructure that both now and in the future operate within natural capacities for the regeneration & future productivity of natural resources; recognize the contribution that people and communities, customs and lifestyles, make to the tourism experience; accept that these people must have an equitable share in the economic benefits of local people and communities in the host areas.

- Sustainable tourism is responsible tourism.

- Sustainable tourism is tourism that is ‘economically viable, but does not destroy the

resources on which the future of tourism will depend, notably the physical environment

and the social fabric of the host community’. (Adapted from Ritchie & Crouch, 2003)

Sustainable tourism development:

“is development that meets the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future. It is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social, and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, and biological diversity and life support systems”. (The World tourism Organization, 1998)

Environmental sustainability:

Environmental sustainability refers to the minimization of the negative impact of mass tourism on the environment. (Mowforth and Munt, 2003)

Economic sustainability:

Economic sustainability refers to the additional income provided to locals to compensate them for the burden that the presence of tourists may cause. (Mowforth and Munt, 2003)

Social sustainability:

Social sustainability refers to the minimization of the potential tensions, which may arise as a result of the widening gap between those who benefit from tourism and those who do not. (Mowforth and Munt, 2003)

Cultural sustainability:

Cultural sustainability refers to the protection of local rituals, customs, and norms in the face

of the different lifestyles brought by tourists. (Mowforth and Munt, 2003)

Carrying capacity:

Carrying capacity is the maximum number of people who can use a site without an un acceptable alteration in the physical environment and without an unacceptable decline in the quality of experience gained by visitors. (Inskeep, 1991)

Leadership:

Leadership is the ability to influence people toward the attainment of goals. (Daft, 2006)

1-3- Statement of the Problem:

In recent years tourism has known as a profitable and entrepreneurial industry which can have a great role in foreign exchange balance of countries. As a service industry, tourism is labor-intensive, plays a significant role in generating employment opportunities and helps reduce unemployment rates. Tourism provides an important way to expand a country's economic base through linkages with the agricultural, industrial and service sectors. Also, as Goeldner (2006) pointed out, tourism is believed to have a positive effect on world peace. As people travel place to place with a sincere desire to learn more about their global neighbors, knowledge and understanding grow. Then at least a start has been made in improving world communication, which seems so important in building bridges of mutual appreciation, respect, and friendship.

But tourism has not found its real place in Iran. Iran’s strength as a tourist destination is

that it is unspoiled and not overdeveloped, especially in terms of the environment and the

unique and rich culture and its heritage. Iran has a suitable geographical situation and natural

endowments (e.g. Iran has 12 out of 17 kinds of climate) and 11 thousand registered

historical attractions. This makes the country a strong tourism product that is waiting to

flourish.

Although Iran is in the list of 10 superior countries of the world from view point of tourist attractions, but the share of Iran from income of tourism industry in the world, is just 0.04%

(Jam, F. 2006, November 28. Tourism, a Disturbed Industry. Hamshahry, pp.7)

According to the anticipation of WTO, in future, tourism industry will be on top of the other industries from the view point of income and the largest part of international trade will be allocated to tourism. It is notable that the income of this industry, after oil, is the largest amount in the world. Tourism is one of the dynamic parts of the world’s economy that it is used for the growth and development of the economy and society. This industry has always taken into consideration as one of the goals and master plans of societies which have touristic attraction.

Many oil rich countries, which apparently are among the rich country, have sever economic problems because of depending on oil and having not various source of income.

The most evident result of having single source of income, is vulnerability and moving to economic crises. In this situation, one of the main source of income and getting rid of economic problems is tourism development.

As Iran can not depend on its oil resources forever and because of economic situation of

Iran, it seems that tourism development in Iran is not a choice anymore but it is a vital and

urgent matter. Tourism development can be an important vehicle for economic, social and

peace development in Iran and because of the increasing negative political propagandas

against Iran from the West, tourism can be used as a means to offset them. The country can

also use tourism as a means to introduce its real culture and specifications. Tourism will

increase foreign exchange earnings of Iran, create employment, promote development in

various parts of the country, reduce income disparities, strengthen linkages among many

sectors of the national economy and help to alleviate poverty.

But tourism also brings with it problems and dangers; tourist travel & tourist facilities place a strain on natural resources and environment; in many of the countries visited, the over-use of natural resources often results in loss of biological diversity; social and cultural structures may suffer from encounter with outside values and modes of behavior; the traditional life-styles of indigenous people adapted to ecological conditions gradually disappear and cultural heritage could be ruined.

As Williams (1998) pointed out some negative impacts of tourism upon host society and culture can be: Debasement of cultures; moral drift & changing social values; increased tensions between imported and traditional lifestyles; erosion in the strength of local language;

and new patterns of consumption. So it is very important to consider these probable impacts and allowing action before they cause problems. This is why the concept of sustainability should be combined to tourism development, and a careful and proper planning is required.

Therefore, today tourism industry of Iran needs a scientific revolution and change in its structures, the planning and policy making according to new trends of the industry and socio- cultural and political situation of the country. However we should keep in mind that tourism is not an end for Iran but a means to an end.

So it is very important to develop tourism in Iran selectively, sensitively and gradually.

1-4- Significance of the Problem:

The Islamic Republic of Iran intends to develop its tourism sector to meet innate needs and as an effective economic factor in the national economic and social development plan.

Tourism offers an opportunity for development not only through its contribution to the

economy, but as a vehicle for bringing about further dialogues among nations and reinforcing

the sense of national identity.

As the objectives for tourism development in Iran must be set in a context and contribute positively to the achievement of the broad economic, social, cultural and environmental and political objectives of the nation and country, so tourism can not be planned or managed in isolation. Tourism needs to be viewed professionally and using the traditional and old methods for its development, certainly does not guarantee its success. Therefore tourism planning for development in Iran needs more research and investigation.

1-5- Literature Review:

Accordance to Farzin (2007), the first organization concerning tourism in Iran was set up in 1935 and was called ‘Attracting Tourists and Advertisement’. But from that time till now, the responsible organization for tourism in Iran has confronted many changes from its name and its structure to its objectives and policies. For the first time, in the forth developmental program (1962-1966) of Iran, a special place was allocated to tourism (Farzin, 2007). This was continued till 1978. After the victory of Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1978 and the starting of the imposed Iran-Iraq war, tourism industry of Iran was badly damaged due to the political crises and war. But from the first developmental plan of the country after the Islamic revolution, tourism was taken into consideration once again (Safaei, 2007). In short, the objectives of tourism development in the four Five-year Socio-cultural and Economic Development Plans of Iran (after Iran-Iraq war) were:

- introducing the culture and civilization of Islamic Iran - increasing the foreign exchange of the country

- stimulating local commerce and industries

- generating a favorable worldwide image of the country

Completing the literature review, some international articles also were studied. The followings are the brief description of them:

Jafari explained in “The Scientification of Tourism” (2002), that if tourism is taken as a whole or a system, for an understanding of its underling structures and functions, this would contribute to the formation of knowledge in this field.

As Goeldner and Ritchie (2006) discussed, what is really needed to study tourism is a system approach. A system is a set of interrelated groups coordinated to form a unified whole and organized to accomplish a set of goals.

Goeldner and Ritchie (2006) conveyed the importance of integrated or collaborative planning and development efforts. As they said, both the public and private sectors each control (and often operate) an important percentage of tourism facilities, events, and programs. So it is critical that policy, planning and development efforts be continuously carried out within a joint, cooperative, collaborative organizational framework.

Masoumi in “Long Range Comprehensive Planning Approach and its Process for Tourism Planning” (2005) pointed out that the main approaches for tourism planning divided in two: 1) Non-integrated approaches (1945-1975), 2) Integrated approaches (1975 till now).

Jafari in his article “Anatomy of the Travel Industry” (1983) attempted to show how each

individual component contributes to the formation of tourism. He said, since all component

of the tourism industry are interrelated, poor performance by one business affects the tourism

industry as a whole.

Sautter and Leisen in “ MANAGING STAKEHOLERS: A Tourism Planning Model”

(1999) explained that despite economic significance of tourism, debate continues as to whether or not tourism truly benefits all entities involved in its system. They emphasized that collaboration among key players is a fundamental ingredient in sustainable development efforts.

According to Brohman in “New Directions in Tourism for Third World Development”

(1996) there are also a number of common problems that have been linked to Third World tourism and if new directions are not taken, the Third World tourism industry will be threatened by many of these problems. These problems include excessive foreign dependency, the creation of separate enclaves, the reinforcement of socioeconomic and spatial inequalities, environmental destruction, and rising cultural alienation.

In “PARTICIPATORY PLANNING: A View of Tourism in Indonesia” (1999), Timothy has presented a normative model of participatory tourism planning which argues that participation can be viewed from two perspectives: taking part in decision making and enjoying the benefits of tourism.

Williams, Penrose and Hawkes in “Shared Decision-Making in Tourism Land Use Planning” (1998), suggested that shared decision-making has an important role to play in sustainable land use planning and management.

Hanlan, Fuller and Wilde, in “Destination Decision Making: The Need for a Strategic

Planning and Management Approach” (2006) argued that the choice of a destination

experience is a complex area, involving a number of important influences. It is necessary to

incorporate important information affecting consumer destination decision making into a systematic planning process.

Burns in his article “Tourism Planning: A Third Way?” (2004) explained that the left/right divide in late 20th and early 21st century politics acts as a metaphor for the debates surrounding aid-funded tourism master planning where the traditional right, framed by the values of neoliberalism, sees market forces as providing the only alternative. On the other hand, modern world problems have emerged that go far beyond the assumptions upon which the left was founded. Burns took Anthony Giddens’ proposals for a Third Way in politics and applies them to tourism in the context of the developing world.

Edward Inskeep in his book, “Tourism Planning: An Integrated and Sustainable Development Approach” (1991) discussed that planning concepts and approaches have somewhat changed during the last few decades based on experience gained in earlier years.

Bramwell and Sharman in “Collaboration in Local Tourism Policymaking” (1999), discussed collaborations among stakeholders to develop policies and visitor management plan for a destination. They pointed out that there are many potential benefits when stakeholders in a destination collaborate together and attempt to build a consensus about tourism policies.

1-6- Objectives of the research:

- Recognizing the reasons why tourism industry of Iran has not been developed properly. (From the view point of planning)

- Finding effective solutions for sustainable tourism development in Iran

The results of this thesis can be used by:

- The Management and Planning Organization

- The Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization - Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs

- Ministry of Culture & Islamic Guidance

1-7- Research Questions:

- What are the weaknesses of tourism development plans in Iran after Iran-Iraq war?

- How can these weaknesses be removed?

- What suggestions are proposed for sustainable tourism development in Iran, (according to its socio-cultural, economic and political situation)?

1-8- Research hypothesis:

The Stakeholders Theory has been considered in tourism development planning of Iran.

1-9- Methodology:

1-9-1- Research Methodology

The research methodology that was used in this thesis for studying and analysing the

tourism planning and policies of Iran after Iran-Iraq war, and finding the answers of research

questions and hypothesis, was descriptive (Content analysis). The present thesis has a

character of documentary and developmental. As the needed statistics, were official, they

were available at the Plan & Budget Organization and Cultural heritage, Handicraft and

Tourism Organization. So this research has not any questionnaire, sample and variable. The

necessary data and information have been gathered from library, books, journals, thesis,

weekly newspapers and internet and TV programs.

1-9-2- Research Limitations

The present thesis confronted some limitations. As tourism was not regarded significant in Iran, finding reliable source of data and information related to tourism industry of Iran was difficult and sometimes were not available. Lack of complete and current statistics related to tourism indices in Iran during the period concerning this thesis and also lack of conformity in the information and data about the result of the operation of the 4 five-year development plans were also limitations of the research.

1-10- Discussion in future chapters:

The remainder of this thesis is organized as follows:

The next chapter, chapter 2, is literature review which discusses the history and past records of tourism planning in Iran then mainly presents the First, the Second, the Third and Forth Five-year Socio-cultural and Economic Development Plans of Iran (after Iran-Iraq war). Also some international articles about tourism development planning and related subjects and theories are reviewed.

Chapter 3 shows the methods used to conduct the research.

Chapter 4 basically analyses the tourism section of the four development plans and discusses the existing position of tourism industry in Iran during the period of these plans.

Then internal & external factors that have affected the operation of theses plans are pointed out. This chapter summarizes the weaknesses of these plans and discusses why they have been recognized as a weakness, also examines if the Stakeholders Theory is the basis of tourism development planning in Iran. According to the discussions, a few suggestions are proposed for sustainable tourism development in Iran.

Chapter 5 concludes the whole discussion. At the end of this chapter suggestion to future

researchers is written.

Chapter 2 Literature Review

2-1- Introduction:

In this chapter, the history and evolution of tourism planning in Iran is discussed. As this research intends to analyze the tourism planning of Iran after Iran-Iraq war according to its development plans, the tourism section of the four Five-year Socio-Cultural and Economic Development Plans of Iran, is brought. After it, important points of some related articles are explained, which gave us a new viewpoint to analyze tourism development planning of Iran much better. At the end of this chapter a summary of its content can be seen.

2-2-The evolution of the research subject

As Dr. Farzin (2007) states, the first comprehensive planning in Iran dates back to 1921, the first governmental developmental planning. But in this program and up to 14 years after that there was nothing about tourism, this ever-increasing industry in our country. The first organization concerning tourism was set up in 1935 under the title of “Tourists attraction and advertisement” in Interior ministry. As Safaei (2007) mentioned, the purpose of this organization was the attraction of tourists and the introduction of the Iranian traditional civilization. It was added that the mere goal in this industry was financial aspect which meant sheer financial benefit.

According to Farzin (2007), six year later (1941), this office was renamed to Tourism high

Council and then in 1954 it changed again to Tourism affairs organization and was

concentrated in Interior ministry. In 1963 an organization called Tourist’s attraction centre -

affiliated to prime minister- was set up. But the important point is that before the emergence

of tourism, art and culture management section in Budgeting and Planning organization in

1968, no centre or organization existed that can plan for tourism rationally. For this reason, in

the second developmental plan, even before Islamic revolution, no program concerning this

industry was made and just in the third developmental plan (1962-66), some actions have been taken, although a clear and independent headline for tourism hasn’t been considered.

The establishment of an organization for tourist’s attraction has been of the most important activity of these attempts.

The establishment of tourism organizations by government has shown its effects on the fourth developmental programs (1967-79) and finally after 20 years, in this program for the first time in the history of Iran’s planning, tourism industry has allocated a good position to itself. Although the fourth developmental program, in these years, was evaluated as a successful one in tourism and 80% of goals were fulfilled, due to lack of definite goals for domestic tourism and especially due to lack of facilities, it wasn’t comprehensively enough.

The fifth program (1973-78) with macro purpose of introducing Iran’s culture, providing facilities and services for domestic and international tourists, was the last developmental program before Islamic revolution.

As Farzin (2007) said, in the fifth program, the purpose was not only Iran tourism for foreign tourists, but also providing tourist’s facilities such as hotels. One of the most important actions taken by the government in tourism planning in the years before revolution was in the fifth program. It was the contract signed in 1971 between planning organization and Consult Tourism Company for comprehensive Iran tourism plan. This contract led to a plan based on potions for tourism development, social welfare and economic benefit and it was prepared by foreign consultants. In this plan a clear picture of resources, financial sources, required facilities, a long term physical plan, social and economical aspects was presented.

As a whole during fourth and fifth programs, the foundation of tourism is formed. The

number of foreign tourists had an increase of 80% from 241198 in 1969 to 502278 in 1978

and exchange income had an increase of 21% annually on average from 241/1 million dollars to 235/2 million dollars in 1978.

Frazin (2007) also explains that during fourth and fifth programs, the economical planners has had a great investment for building international hotels, cooperating with foreign tourism companies and holding of festivals and sports events. Since the above- mentioned activities were fed by oil income, there was not great problem in conducting those programs.

The process was an indication of potential abilities in tourist’s attraction that in 1969 ,despite all the problems and the lack of sufficient infrastructures, Iran has been able to attract 241000 tourists and this figure has been tripled in 7 years.

Overall, the basic pivots of tourism programs during those years have been as follows:

1- Having international reputation

2- Making modern constitutional organizations and executive systems to manage and direct tourism activities.

3- Developing tourism services via cooperation with big, international companies in this field.

4- Introducing tourist’s attractions especially local poles of Iran’s tourism.

5- Encouraging people to travel abroad and making them familiar with the experiences of the developmental and economical achievement of those countries.

Safaei (2007) Said, after the victory of Islamic Revolution in February 1979, and the

alteration in dominate attitudes toward tourism; this industry was activated as an assistance

office in the ministry of Culture & Islamic Guidance and then changed to an organization in

the same ministry. Being combined with tourism and cultural heritage, in the form of an

organization, named Tourism and Cultural Heritage Organization and it followed its

missions.

Frazin (2007) describes that the first developmental program after the revolution started in 1989. In this year tourism industry, due to the problems of imposed war and political crisis was in the worst condition. In the interval between the fifth developmental program and the first one after Islamic revolution, the number of tourists and following that exchange income, on average, decreased 8% annually. Thus the number of tourists coming to Iran in 1988 was equal to 70,000 and the income was 29 million dollars. In these years many facilities and services went out of activity and this industry faced a deep recession.

2-3-The First Five-year Socio-cultural & economic development plan (1989-1993)

2-3-1-Qualitative goals

1- Introducing the culture and civilization of Islamic Iran to the world. 2- Preparing the situation for issuing Islamic Revolution by developing tourism industry and making People familiar with cultural manifestation and the civilization of different nations. 3- Introducing the natural sights and attractions of the country and encouraging people to visit such places to spend their free time and making friends by emphasizing on uniting people from different tribes & clans. 4- Increasing income- earning sources by attracting foreign tourists and making benefit for public sectors. 5- Making wise benefit from investments, facilities and equipment which are established. 6- Providing proper situation for Iranian to travel abroad.

2-3-2-Strategies

- Giving priority to independency in tourism industry by encouraging and providing facilities

for private sectors in order to invest in this field.

- Broadening exchanges and international cooperating strengthening the unity among world Muslims in order to pave the road to issue Islamic revolution, developing international understanding and transferring positive and instructive points of other countries to our own.

- To use traditional arts and internal industry in making structures and accommodations to avoid the entrance of non-Iranian cultural manifestations against Iranian one.

2-3-3-Quantitative Purposes

By rebuilding the damaged areas in war zones, the completion of semi-built units and the construction of 50 new units, the accommodation capacity will increase from 2952 beds in 1987 to 4500 beds at the end of 1993. The number of foreign tourists will increase from 70,000 in 1989 to 102,000 at the end of this program; the number of tourists going out of Iran will increase from 825860 in 1987 to 830000 at the end of 1993.

The issue of postal cards, cassettes, books, journal, brochures and calendars will increase from 355000 per year to 15265000.

2-3-4-General policies

- To raise the quality and quantity of tourism facilities especially in the number of foreign and domestic tours to fill the gap in comparison with developed countries.

- To activate the private sector.

- To train human resources to have expert staff.

- To gradually provide independency in tourism industry.

- To invest in inexpensive accommodation to support the low- income and the oppressed.

- To develop and strengthen advertising programs to introduce Islamic Iran and its natural

and historical attraction and Iranian’s hospitality.

- To harmonize the tourist’s attraction policy with other local policies especially the relation with major cities.

2-3-5-Executive Program

The Executive programs of tourism regarding the aims, strategies and policies will be conducted in two programs under the titles of:

1- Developmental and improvement program of domestic and international tourism.

2- The program of managing cultural affairs for Iranians living abroad.

The second program is not within the scope of this research, so the first one is explained here.

2-3-6-Developmental and improvement program of domestic and international tourism:

- Executive policies: The executive policies of this program to reach qualitative and quantitative goals in 1989-93 are as follows:

- The attraction and the guidance of non public investments for building hotels, restaurants and domestic tourism facilities.

- The utilization of Iranian Technology, native architecture and traditional arts in designing and decorating tourist accommodations to reach independency in tourist industry.

- The renovation, rebuilding and equipping the accommodations and centers relating to domestic tourism and the completion of unfinished projects to benefit most from them.

- To start and develop domestic tours; especially cheap one for people to have the chance of visiting attractive and holy places of Iran with the best facilities and services.

- To start special tours for the disabled and war victims.

- To facilitate the entrance or the exit of foreign tourists at the borders.

- To try to reduce foreign exchange expenses and to utilize the domestic industries.

- To help the development of travel agencies and constant supervision over them.

- To hold seminars, fairs, cultural and artistic festivals and international sports tournaments for advertising tourism and tourist attraction by coordination between different organs and centers.

- To give tourism services via public organizations to be as a pattern for private sector and to provide public employees and low income people with same services.

- To improve and develop supervision on the activities of domestic tourism centers within Iran.

- To set up facilities and accommodations and give services to international tours.

- To teach people the social and Islamic behavior that is appropriate to face foreign tourists.

- To teach and train the technical staffs for hotels and restaurants.

- To cooperate with international organization and developed countries for getting experience in tourism industry.

2-3-7-Executive activities and procedure

- Rebuilding 11 ruined accommodations in war zones.

- Completing 8 semi-finished accommodations.

- Building 50 hotels, restaurants and teahouses.

- Reception of 427000 foreign tourists.

2-4-The Second Five-year Socio-cultural & Economic Development plan (1994-1998)

2-4-1-Qualitative goals

- The development of domestic and international tourism industry to introduce Islamic Iran’s

culture and civilization, and to introduce the Islamic Revolution’s achievement to the world.

- The revival and development of poles and attractions, holy and attractive areas. The improvement of the seashores to fill peoples spare time, specially the youth’s.

- The increase and strengthening of applied researches and studies, information system and statistics.

- The attraction of people’s investment and foreign capitals in fields such as building hotel and tourist villages and water- healing complexes.

- The improvement of general and specific education to raise the quality of services.

- The expansion of communication and international activities to introduce tourist attractions to Islamic countries.

2-4-2-Fundamental Policies and Strategies

- To revive and strengthen the country’s tourists poles and holy attractions, traditional and historical places.

- To activate and at the same time improve the services in tourism centers.

- To transfer the ownership of the established units and semi- finished projects of tourism organization to private sectors without changing its application except in cases that ministry of culture & Islamic guidance gives authority to have the benefits of these properties in order to develop this section.

- To strengthen the advertising programs for introducing Islamic Iran and its historical and natural attractions.

- To encourage private sector to invest for building accommodations and tourist facilities by

governmental support, balancing the prices and controlling the quality of services by the

officials.

- To pave the ground for developing motels, hostels, parking lots, camps, inns especially on international and touristic routes through cooperation with executive organizations such as ministry of roads and transportation to facilitate the process.

- To support and give loans from government and improving the regulations to encourage the foreign and domestic investors in building & renovating the accommodations.

- To provide facilities for the arrival of tourists especially the Islamic ones who come from Islamic countries.

- Concentration on planning and policy making for tourism.

- To pay attention to researches and studies in order to reintroduce countries’ attraction and appropriate fields for investment in the form of inclusive program of tourism industry.

- To train human resources in tourism industry to have experts in this field to improve this industry and raise the quality of services.

2-4-3-Quantitative goals and executive programs of public sector

- Developmental and improvement program for domestic and international tourism.

- To increase the capacity of accommodations from 5043 beds in 1993 to 11383 beds in 1998 by completing 400 semi-finished beds and 5940 new beds from the income gained by selling 16 units of tourism organization and bank loans.

- To renovate and complete 40 units from the income gained from selling 4 semi-finished public projects.

- To train and teach 20,000 persons working in this section during the program.

- To prepare and improve 14 cases of tourist’s attraction such as Uremia’s lake, Aras shore,

Shahrekord ski resorts, Ardebil Sarein, Khazar seaside, Masoole village, Marivan lake,

Bastak mountain pass in Marvdasht, Chabahar’s seashore, Zanjan Soltaniyeh, Karoon shore,

Genaveh seashore and Larigan.

2-4-4-Hajj programs

To organizing departure of 450, 000 pilgrims to Mecca, who had registered before.

2-4-5-Executive Actions:

- To issue the ownership deed of accommodations to Iran tourism organization in order to solve its problem with municipality in terms of the ownership and consequently to be allowed to sell or expend the activities.

- To reclaim the possessed units of tourism organization from other organizations.

- To improve the organizational structure of ministry of culture & Islamic guidance and tourism organization in order to constitute a strong and independent centre at the heart of executive units to cooperate with private sectors.

2-4-6-Quantitative goals of private sector and required activities

- Increasing the capacity of accommodations from 29457 beds in 1993 to 48117 beds at the end of 1998 by completing 13500 half- finished beds and 5160 new ones.

- Increasing the motels from 3600 units in 1993 to about 4100 by the end of the program.

- Increasing the number of foreign tourists from about 320000 in 1993 to 1,040,000 by the end of the year 1998.

- Increasing the foreign exchange income from 160,000,000 dollars in 1993 to $520,000,000 by the end of the program and earning $1,700,000,000 in the mentioned years.

2-4-7-Required Actions

- To grant a five-year tax exemption for the new accommodations from the time of exploitation.

- To release the fees for tourist facilities to make this industry profitable.

- To rationalize the expenses of issuing visa for foreign tourists.

- To simplify the process of visa issuing for tourists.

- To increase the number of licenses relating to foreign airlines to expand the flights between international airports of Islamic Republic of Iran with foreign airports.

- To facilitate and simplify the processes of issuing license for travel agencies, transportation companies and tourist organization.

- To issue the permission of setting up non-profit teaching tourism centers.

- To attract the support of foreign investors for establishing hotels & other facilities.

- To benefit tourist facilities (setting up, renovating and buying) from public subsidiaries and facilities.

2-5-The Third Five-year Socio-cultural & Economic Developmental Plan (1999-2003)

2-5-1-Strategic Policies for Cultural Heritage and Tourism

- To combine tourism organization with cultural heritage organization; to cooperate more in order to strengthen cultural identity and national unity and to develop the responsibility of related organizations and to benefit their activities more.

- To prepare and introduce poles and places of cultural/historical and natural zones and to prepare facilities proportionate to these areas to encourage tourists.

- To emphasize attracting cultural tourists from advanced and industrial countries, to increase

the number of Islamic tourists and Silk Road, to encourage the Iranians living outside and

inside of Iran to visit the attractive places in order to strengthen the national unity, increase

Iran’s share of tourists and to increase its share in Domestic Gross Production.

- To provide a proper economical field for an increase in cultural heritage activities, ask for cooperation from private sectors, cooperative centers and lead the foreign investments to develop cultural heritage and tourism functions.

- To develop training and improve the management of human resources and raise the technical level and quality of existing facilities and benefit from cultural heritage and tourism to reach international standards in this fields.

- To clarify the position and different aspects of cultural heritage to strengthen the national/religious identity and to make better the attitudes toward cultural heritage values and to benefit from cultural and historical advantages and experiences for development.

- To try to cover and introduce all the historical and cultural attraction sites.

- To expand historical and cultural researches and benefit from cultural heritage values of our country through introducing them.

- To improve protective functions and to raise the quality and quantity of renewal and revival of cultural and historical sites.

- To utilize the statistics and information systems to develop cultural, natural and tourist heritage and to increase involvement of civil organizations.

- To strengthen and develop the international communications of cultural heritage to raise Iran’s cultural position in world organizations related to cultural heritage.

2-5-2-Executive Policies

1- To protect the monuments, historical and cultural sites and to prevent changing their usage.

2- During the third program, central bank of Islamic republic of Iran will set up some

regulations to enable the banks buy foreign currencies from tourist coming to Iran by sea,

land and air. Banking system can also sell foreign currencies to these tourists provided they

present valid documents.

3- To support and protect cultural heritage, the unit of cultural heritage & tourism police will be established under supervision of cultural heritage organization.

4- In cities with precious historical attractions, municipalities will be looked over to protect these historical attractions and a good management in these places will be held.

2-5-3-Executive Activities

1- The ministry of Culture & Islamic Guidance is responsible to introduce & implement its’

plan for the purpose of combination of Tourism Organization and Cultural Heritage organization as an independent center to work with legal authorities in policy making, planning, guiding and supervising. At the same time to utilize the accommodations of tourism organization and to able this organization to give its authorities to private sector, in order to organize cultural heritage affairs, domestic and international tourism and in order to coordinate for making the best use of cultural, historic and natural features of the country to introduce culture and civilization of Islamic Iran to the world, to strengthen and raise cultural identity, to stress national unity and to develop tourism industry and to increase foreign exchange income and to utilize the ability of other organizations and peoples aids to hold and revive the cultural heritage and cultural attractions and organizing the museums.

2- The government is responsible to prevent the irrational competition of public sectors or centers that utilize the public budget resources and subsidies. All accommodations and at the disposal of mentioned organization will be transferred to private sector during the third program.

3- Cultural heritage & tourism organization is responsible -in one year time- to present the

regulation related to the way of investing for establishing infrastructures -such as a roads,

water, electricity, gas and telephone in poles and cultural, historical and natural attractions- to

ministers board to be confirmed in order to provide foundations to attract the active cooperation of private sector.

4- The cultural heritage and tourism organization is responsible to prepare the plan of supporting and guiding private sector for investment in the revival of monuments and historical textures accompanied with government cooperation and give it to minister’s board to be confirmed.

5- The cultural heritage and tourism organization is responsible to study domestic and international tourism comprehensively with the cooperation of executive organizations.

5- All executive organizations -for the purpose of publicizing the sense of responsibility toward cultural heritage for supporting, researching and introducing historical and cultural works- are responsible for setting up technical museums and allocate the part of its income for research, support and revival of these works. All of these jobs are held based on cultural heritage organization regulations.

7- Cultural heritage organization is responsible to take some actions with the cooperation of Iran’s embassies to support cultural and historical works residing abroad that are the cause of cultural and national unity between Iran’s people & government and other countries.

8- In giving services related to accommodations in order to create motivation to set up investment, there would be a review in pricing policies.

9- To facilitate the arrival of tourists to the country, the cultural heritage and tourism organization should cooperate with foreign affairs ministry and other related organizations, to arrange the plan for the required reforms in terms of foreigner’s entrance and exit and give it to ministry’s board to be processed.

10- Cultural heritage and tourism organization should prepare the program of “Cooperation

of media and other centers to train people how to face tourists and spread the culture of

tourism” and give it to the ministry’s board for approval.

11- Foreign affairs ministry should take some actions to facilitate the tourist’s exchange among Islamic countries and Silk Road to issue a common visa and reach some agreement in this field with those countries.

12- For the cooperation of the ministry of education, science, research and technology and the Islamic Iran’s media organization, -for finding the way of presenting cultural heritage and tourism issues- studies should be done in cultural and educational organizations and will be executed after being confirmed by minister’s board.

13- In order to set up accommodations, recreational and services for tourists, besides the poles and attractions which are ready to absorb the investments, banking Facilities will be given to private sectors.

2-6-The Forth Five-year Socio-cultural & Economic development plan (2004-2009)

2-6-1- Executive policies

1) The government has the responsibility of doing the following tasks in order to support and

keep safe Iran’s historical identity and benefit from factors and elements of Iran’s identify especially Persian language:

- To support the scientific researches in the field of knowing Iran and its past history.

- To strengthen the interrelation of native language and cultures with spiritual national culture and heritage, to introduce different aspects of native culture based on national unity especially in educational system, media and production of artistic and cultural products, in national level.

- To recognized the regulations and laws of designing Iran’s architectures in towns and

villages to introduce the artistic designing of Islamic Iran

2) The government should do the following to spread the culture of peace, understanding,

living together peacefully among nations and having dialogs among cultures and civilizations.

- To plan in order to make cooperation and active presence in processes, organizations and international, local meetings about the issue of dialogs among civilizations.

- To pay attention to the introduction of cultural, artistic aspects of Iran in other places and to provide the field of introducing and choosing geniuses and cultural-educational centers regarding the new cultural achievements of the world.

- To make local, continental & international cultural contracts and provide the conditions of implementing them in executive organizations.

- To make the executive foundation better and support the constitution of private sectors for actual cultural talks regarding the reducing of government’s role and specializing this activity.

3) The government should do the following for the purpose of national attention in knowing,

protecting, covering, renewing, reviving, benefiting and introducing cultural heritage and raising the capabilities of tourism, financial benefit, making job and cultural exchanges:

- To implement and develop specialize-researching museums affiliated to executive organizations.

- Establishment of cultural heritage centers in important historical monuments.

- To introduce and support cultural and historical works of Iran, by executive organizations.

- To recognize & protect Iran’s cultural/historic works existing in neighboring countries as the common cultural heritage.

- To promote private sector partnership and its ability to compete in tourism industry via

reforming the rules and providing required facilities, providing protection and banking

support for private sectors and to attract investors and cooperation of domestic and

international technical organizations and insurance for foreign tourists and giving it to council to be approved.

- To complete the tourism statistical systems by supervising and guiding the Statistic Center of Iran.

- In order to protect the traditional, tribal and national works and culture and also for making attraction for expanding tourism in country, the government is responsible to build some centers for protecting tribal arts in provinces and cities such as tourist village, tribal recreational centers, museums and exhibition and by predicting facilities, in annual budget law, takes some actions. The cooperation of private and public sectors and giving land and facilities to private sectors for such projects are possible, without any problem.

2-7- Applied research

Completing the literature review, some articles and books related to tourism planning and policy making also were studied. They help us to look differently to tourism industry of Iran and its development. Here are main contents of them:

Jafari explained in “The Scientification of Tourism” (2002), that if tourism is taken as a

whole or a system, for an understanding of its underling structures and functions, this would

contribute to the formation of knowledge in this field. This would aid in further development

of theoretical constructs on a phenomenon now evolved into a global institution and on a

business turned into a mega-industry. It was due to these interrelated, processual, and

assimilating insights that the Knowledge –Based Platform, emerged in the last decade of 20

^th

century. This platform systematically studies tourism’s own structure; annexes it to various

fields of investigation or disciplines; defines its place in this larger multidisciplinary context

that generates and accommodates it; examines its functions at personal, group, business,

government, and system levels; identifies factors that influence and are influenced by it; and more. This all is meant to contribute to a holistic treatment of tourism. (Figure 2-1)

Figure 2.1 Disciplinary inputs to the tourism field. Adapted from Jafar Jafari, University of

Wisconsin-Stout, Study of Tourism: Choices of Discipline and Approach

As Goeldner and Ritchie (2006) discussed, what is really needed to study tourism is a system approach. A system is a set of interrelated groups coordinated to form a unified whole and organized to accomplish a set of goals. It integrated the other approaches into a comprehensive method dealing with both micro and macro issues. It can examine the tourist firm’s competitive environment, its market, and its results, its linkages with other institutions, the consumer, and the interaction of the firm with the consumer. In addition, a system can take a macro viewpoint and examine the entire system of a country, state, or area and how it operates within and relates to other systems, such as legal, political, economic, and social systems.

Goeldner and Ritchie (2006) explained that it is important to understand the nature of the processes and activities that both surround and occur within the tourism system. On the whole, for successful tourism, the destination management organization (DMO), in collaboration with all stakeholders, must define the tourism philosophy of the destination and formulate a supportive policy, vision, and strategy. These in turn, provide direction and guidance for the detailed planning and development initiatives that will ultimately determine the nature and quality of the experiences the destination is capable of offering.

The availability of these “experience offering” must be made known to potential visitors through effective marketing, defined in the broadest sense. Such marketing includes highly visible promotional efforts as well as the less glamorous dimensions of pricing and distribution of the travel products/experiences.

Successful marketing will attract broad range visitors whose behaviors provide them with

enjoyment and the memorable experiences associated with these behaviors. These behaviors

can give rise to both positive and negative impacts. The positive impacts pertain largely to

the economic benefits (income and employment) that the tourism provides. The negative

impacts largely concern the ecological, social, cultural, and commemorative integrity of the destination. The success of marketing efforts requires two subsequent activities. The first is a systematic monitoring of the levels and quality of visitation as well as visitors satisfaction regarding experiences and the destination. The second is a comprehensive program of stewardship to ensure that the success of tourism does not destroy the natural resources on which tourism depend so heavily.

Goeldner and Ritchie (2006) continued that the final activity which is essential to long- term success of tourism is an ongoing process of evaluation. Evaluation is simply an attempt to carefully assess the appropriateness, the effectiveness, the efficiency, and the overall performance of all components and process in the tourism system. The results of the evolution provide a critical source of information for the next ongoing stages of policy formulation, visiting, and strategic planning and development.

Goeldner and Ritchie (2006) conveyed the importance of integrated or collaborative planning and development efforts. As they said, both the public and private sectors each control (and often operate) an important percentage of tourism facilities, events, and programs. So it is critical that policy, planning and development efforts be continuously carried out within a joint, cooperative, collaborative organizational framework. Failure to acknowledge the importance of this reality leads only to antagonism, strife, and disjointed strategic planning and development. As such, each destination must strive to create the destination management organizations (DMOs) where collaboration is built into the design.

Goeldner and Ritchie (2006) emphasized, the actual name of the organization (be it a tourism authority, a tourism council, or a tourism partnership) matters a little. What is important is the quality of the collaboration that occurs.