چكيده لاتين :
1- Introduction
Today, geotourism phenomena and geological heritage are at risk of being destroyed by the
changing lifestyles and industrialization of most countries. These changes are based on high
rates of resource consumption, such as energy, materials, soil, as well as increased production
of tailings and waste (Gray, 2004). In recent years, as the number of tourist’s increases in
geotourism sites, the risk of damage and destruction by visitors increases, given the fact that
“geoheritage is considered as non-renewable resources of nature (Xun and Milly, 2002).
Accordingly, World Heritage Committee has related three criteria out of ten criteria of cultural
and natural heritage register to geological phenomenon especially to inanimate nature which
indicates the importance of such natural phenomenon (UNESCO, 2019). Therefore, given the
abundance of unique geological phenomena in Iran and their application for tourism
development, the importance of conservation of such a valuable phenomenon against human
and natural threats presents serious challenges to geoheritage in Iran. In this regard, awareness
of the vulnerability of geotourism phenomena and geological heritage is a prerequisite for the
conservation of these phenomena; Providing conservational guidelines to deal with threats
relies on analyzing the vulnerability of geotourism phenomena. As a result, this research was
done with the aim of developing a model of the vulnerability of geotourism attractions.
Therefore, this research seeks to develop a model of the vulnerability of geotourism attractions
which explains the causal conditions, process, and consequences of the vulnerability of
geotourism attractions. The findings of this research provide the necessary tools for policymaking
and decision-making for related managers and officials to conservation management of
geotourism attractions.
2- Methodology
Due to the nature and purpose of this study which is analyzing the vulnerability of
geotourism attractions in tourism destinations, the type of research is fundamental-applied and
its approach is qualitative. The strategy used in this research is logical reasoning in order to
define a proposed model for data analysis. The strategy of logical reasoning is more
comprehensive than other research strategies as each model requires logical integrity.
Moreover, the strategy of logical reasoning can help to codify extensive theoretic literature into
a theoretical framework. Documents, theories and, scripts related to the subject are reviewed
and investigated in order to answer the research question regarding the quality of a model of
the vulnerability of geotourism attractions. An/The archival method is used to collect initial
data. With respect to the nature of data in the present study, the theoretical texts are analyzed
qualitatively. Finally, according to the experts’ opinion, the model of research has validated.
3- Results
What is inferred by literature is that conservation of geotourism attractions gains importance
with respect to their significance. In fact, significance is a fundamental concept to
geoconservation” (Dixon, 1991). Conservation of geotourism attractions must be based on
features leading to significance of that phenomenon. Consistent with literature, features
indicating the significance of a phenomenon are introduced under the concept of “value”.
“Value is a representation of significance with is attributed to quality of places by people”
(English Heritage, 2008). Conservation of geotourism attractions should be based on
conserving their values so that finally it can lead to conservation of their significance. The set
of values attributed to geotourism attractions can be defined in two groups of intrinsic and
instrumental values. “Instrumental values are human-based values and intrinsic values are
independent of human” (Alexander, 2013). Scientific values of a geotourism attraction are
considered as its intrinsic values; other values such as ecological, aesthetic, cultural,
educational and financial values are expressed as instrumental values as well. In legal
framework, World Cultural and Natural Heritage Convention have considered geological
valuable phenomena as natural heritage providing that they qualify as being “integrated”.
“Integrity is the scale of perfection of heritage” (Basiri et al. 2014). Integration influences how
values of a phenomenon are expressed by the audience and secure the sustainability of its
values. As the integrity of geotourism attraction is undermined, its values are threatened;
integrity is undermined by human and natural threats which finally lead to a/the decline of
geotourism attraction values; Declining values lead to a/the reduction of attractions’
significance and make them the vulnerable following reduction of their significance. In the
following, for confirming the validity of a proper model, it was done receiqving experts’
attitudes regarding this issue. In this regard, statistical mean for all questions is higher than the
theoretical mean (3).The statistical mean for questions is as follows: model comprehensiveness
4.11, the cohesion of components in each dimension 3.98, uniqueness 3.88, briefness and
related naming 4.21, timeliness 3.74, adaptability with environmental changes 4.02, fitting with
model’s title 4.44, fitting and clarity of graphic pattern 4.13. According to the results of the
one-sample t-test, given the error level of 0.05 and significance level of 0.000, obtained value
for t is higher than 1.96 for all questions which indicates the statement that “the model is
acceptable” is confirmed by experts.
4- Discussion & Conclusions
Generally, conservation of geoheritage is essential because geosites are exposed to several
kinds of threats such as an/the illegal collection of minerals and fossils from geosites,
destruction by visitors, wrongful application, incorrect mining, and legislation. It should be
noted that developing geotourism activities without conservation measures can lead to the
gradual destruction of attractions and setting the ground for erosive factors, degradation of soil
texture due to traffic and hence susceptibility to erosion which can create a critical condition in
geotourism regions and threaten the environmental sustainability of the region. Considering
that awareness of the vulnerability of geotourism phenomena and geological heritage is a
prerequisite for the conservation of these phenomena, this research was done with the aim of
developing a model of the vulnerability of geotourism attractions. According to the research
proposed model, the significance of attraction is indicated by intrinsic and instrumental values;
meanwhile, the integrity of geotourism attractions is itself an effective factor in attributing
instrumental and essential values to attractions. If the integrity of geotourism attractions is
weakened by natural and human threats, naturally it leads to reduced values; Declining values
lead to the reduction of attractions’ significance and make them the vulnerable following the
reduction of their significance
