TOURISM SILENCE IN GEOMORPHOSITES: A CASE STUDY OF ALI-SADR CAVE (HAMADAN, IRAN)

Abstract

Geotourism is one of the branches of tourism which is based on knowledge of geomorphosites and special geomorphic perspectives and by combining the cultural, historical and ecological heritage, it offers potentials in planning sustainable tourism. Geomorphosites of caves is a perfect example of complex systems. The multiple relationships between components and performance of these systems create unique and innovative forms which have great potential in stimulating aesthetic sense of people and attracting visitors. Ali-Sadr cave has a great potential in attracting visitors because of its diversity, uniqueness and convenient access. In this study, the potential geomorphosites of Ali-Sadr cave is under investigation applying Reynard and Pereira’s model. The results show that based on Reynard’s model, the additional value criterion accounts for 52% of the total mean score and has the utmost importance, which is due to the high rate of economic potential, the geohistorical importance, the variety of monuments and ecological effects. Then, the criterion of scientific value by 35% ranks the second due to the high points of Paleogeographic sub-criterion. The results of the evaluation of potential geomorphosites of cave based on Pereira model shows that the geomorphological value with an average of 6.86 has allocated the highest rank and management value with an average of 6.32 ranks next. In general, the results obtained from Pereira model show that the criterion of usage, with 39 percent of the total points of this model, allocated the highest rank of importance, which is due to the high rating of sub-criteria of accessibility and visibility. Scientific and additional value with a share of 21% of the total points rank the second.

Keywords

• geomorphosites
• geotourism
• Ali-Sadr cave
• Hamedan