Tourism Pressure and Sustainable Development in Mazandaran, Iran
Mazandaran is one of Iran’s most visited provinces, attracting tens of millions of domestic tourists each year. While tourism boosts the local economy, it has created growing pressure on land, resources, and infrastructure. This project examines these emerging challenges through the lenses of carrying capacity, land-use change, and sustainable development.
Why I Chose Mazandaran, Iran
- I wanted to highlight a destination that is rarely discussed in western tourism research and deserves better representation.
- Mazandaran is a powerful example of rapid domestic tourism growth in a non-western context, which makes it academically interesting and globally relevant.
- Studying Mazandaran lets me explore sustainability, land-use change, and carrying capacity in a location that does not usually receive international attention.
What This Project Aims to Explore
- How tourism pressures are shaping Mazandaran’s environment, land use, and communities
- Where carrying capacity issues are beginning to appear
- How development trends compare with global overtourism patterns
- What sustainable practices or frameworks could be relevant for the region
What the Reader Will Find in the Next Pages
- An introduction to Mazandaran and its tourism context: Basic understanding of the province, its geography, culture, and why tourism there is such a big deal.
- A thematic literature review: Environmental, social, and development themes pulled from Iranian and international tourism studies, with links to concepts like carrying capacity, land-use change, and overtourism patterns.
- An annotated bibliography of key source: Short, summaries of the most academic and professional sources used in this project.
- A discussion that applies tourism research to Mazandaran: Using tourism research methodologies (like thematic analysis), I connect global findings to Mazandaran’s situation and interpret what they mean for the region.
- Evidence-based recommendations for Mazandaran: Suggestions for more sustainable tourism development that are inspired by what has worked in other destinations (like Sagada and other overtourism cases) and adapted to the specific issues identified in Mazandaran.
- A conclusion: What I learned from the project, and why sustainable planning is becoming essential for Mazandaran’s tourism future.