A study of the capacities of deserts in Yazd Province for tourism industry using the formic analysis model

Nowadays, tourism is considered as the main sector of the world economy, and ecotourism is a proper tool for achieving permanent tourism revenues. Ecotourism is almost a new phenomenon in tourism industry and forms just a part of this great industry. Most countries around the world allocate formidable budgets to this sector because of its enormous income. Without careful planning and attention to ecological, local, cultural and social capabilities of regions, tourism industry will cause some problems in these regions. Deserts and dry lands are among the most important natural attractions which contain about 90 percent of the country’s area. With such an expanse of dry lands, paying attention to the potentials of these regions in the field of ecotourism and geotourism industry is necessary especially in Yazd Province, which is located in the center of Iran and in the margin of Lout plain and Kavir plain. Generally speaking, deserts are part of the main landscape of Yazd Province. In development patterns of the region, one cannot ignor the role of deserts. In this research, the formic analysis method was used in order to assess the eco-tourist capacities of deserts in Yazd Province. In this method, after repeated field visits, the deserts of Yazd Province were classified by using the formic model. Through three related models, the general landscape of each group was obtained, and their formic differences were etermined. Undoubtedly, different formic units show different preparatory capacities.