Ecolodge Tourism Dynamics: A Village-Level Analysis of Marketing and Policy Indicators in Iran’s Hawraman Region

Abstract

Despite growing interest in community-based ecotourism as a pathway to sustainable development, there is a critical lack of research on how localized configurations of marketing and policy factors shape ecolodge performance at the village level. This study addresses this gap by pioneering a comprehensive, contextually grounded analysis of the availability and desirability of key marketing and policy indicators across 25 rural villages in Iran’s culturally and ecologically rich Hawraman region. By employing an innovative mixed-methods approach blending statistical analysis, GIS spatial modeling, surveys, and interviews, the research reveals striking heterogeneity in ecolodge constraints and opportunities, even within a localized setting. Spatial analysis uncovers distance decay effects, with peripheral villages facing exacerbated accessibility deficits compared to centrally located ones. Substantial variations in marketing effectiveness and governance capacities underscore the inadequacy of one-size-fits-all tourism planning. The findings make a novel contribution by demonstrating the imperative for transitioning from monolithic interventions to hyper-localized, place-based strategies tailored to each village’s unique barrier and asset profiles. Embracing this paradigm shift promises to enhance the equity and sustainability of ecolodge tourism in rural contexts globally. The study provides an original methodological blueprint for harnessing multi-modal diagnostics to unpack complex tourism dynamics and catalyze transformative, community-centric solutions.