Abstract (150 Words)
Isfahan as cultural capital of Islamic world is the most important tourism destination in Middle East and a profitable economic sector in Iran. Naghsh-E Jahan Square (Emam Square) was certified as a World Heritage Site in 1979. Among the tourist sites in Naghsh-E Jahan Square, Emam mosque is a place which attracts the largest number of visitors. The unplanned tourism activities, daily prayer and religious events in this site have been creating various physical and social concerns. If appropriate planning measurements are not derived from the consideration of the carrying capacities of this site, tourism center will be overloaded, tourism quality will be degraded and therefore the benefit obtained from tourism activities will be reduced. For the first time in the history of this site, in this paper, we demonstrate an applicable method which is used for calculating the physical carrying capacity for this historical mosque. Also the result of SWOT model analysis regarding opportunities and limitations on number of the tourists can be used as the preliminary benchmarks for later tourism planning of the Emam mosque.
Tourism Carrying Capacity Assessment for Historical Sites - Isfahan Emam Mosque
Isfahan as cultural capital of Islamic world is the most important tourism destination in Middle East and a profitable economic sector in Iran. Naghsh-E Jahan Square (Emam Square) was certified as a World Heritage Site in 1979. Among the tourist sites in Naghsh-E Jahan Square, Emam mosque is a place which attracts the largest number of visitors. The unplanned tourism activities, daily prayer and religious events in this site have been creating various physical and social concerns. If appropriate planning measurements are not derived from the consideration of the carrying capacities of this site, tourism center will be overloaded, tourism quality will be degraded and therefore the benefit obtained from tourism activities will be reduced. For the first time in the history of this site, in this paper, we demonstrate an applicable method which is used for calculating the physical carrying capacity for this historical mosque. Also the result of SWOT model analysis regarding opportunities and limitations on number of the tourists can be used as the preliminary benchmarks for later tourism planning of the Emam mosque.
