Abstract:
The concept of ecotourism has experienced a significant surge in popularity over the past two
decades, primarily driven by the multitude of adverse impacts associated with mass tourism. The
objective of the study was to develop a comprehensive ecotourism suitability index to guide
policymakers in implementing tourism development policies. Given the considerable appeal of
the study area to both local and international tourists, it is essential to conduct a systematic
evaluation to pinpoint suitable areas for ecotourism development. This necessity arises from the
study area’s placement within a fragile ecosystem and its proximity to a UNESCO World Heritage
site. We employed a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) integrated environment coupled with
a fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) methodology. The GIS-MCDA integrated
framework leverages the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and a weighted linear combination
that seeks to amalgamate many features and criteria to assess ecotourism potential by integrating
20 criteria into six separate categories: landscape, topography, accessibility, climate, forest and
wildlife, and negative factors. Weights were allocated to each criterion and factor based on the
expert’s opinions of their impact on the development of ecotourism. The final ecotourism suitability
index comprised five unique classes: very high, high, moderate, less, and not suitable.
Results reveal that out of the total areas, 45.4 % (259 km2) are within the high and very high
suitable classes. The sensitivity analysis suggested that ecotourism potentials are more favorable
to forest and accessibility variables. The generated index can be utilized as a road map since
validation verified a 64 % accuracy. Given the dearth of earlier research, this study provides vital
support for the development of sustainable ecotourism projects in the study area.
