Background and Objectives: Tourism is one of the largest industries in the world, and its rapid growth has led this sector to account for a substantial portion of the world’s total trade value. According to reports from the World Tourism Organization, tourism plays a key role in the sustainable economic and social development of countries, and it is expected to become the largest industry in the world in the near future. Iran also possesses broad and diverse potential attractions in the field of tourism, offering a high potential for developing this industry. Among these, urban tourist attractions—especially in large cities—emerge as one of the main components of tourism development. These days, Population changes, the expansion of rural-to-urban migration, and the decline in the active population in rural areas are among the challenges that have increasingly emerged in recent decades. Population changes, the expansion of rural-to-urban migration, and the decline in the active population in rural areas are among the challenges that have increasingly emerged in recent decades. By leveraging ecological, cultural, and historical potentials, it is possible to respond to tourist needs while contributing to balanced development in deprived areas. These attractions can play an important role in stimulating economic activity, increasing local incomes, and improving urban infrastructure, thereby contributing to economic vitality, social sustainability, and the preservation of cultural identity. This study examines the feasibility of locating a tourism village in Mehdishahr County with the aim of sustainable development and preventing scattered constructions that threaten the region’s cultural, social, and environmental fabric. There are significant latent potentials, especially across Mehdishahr County and the Shahmirzad area, including proximity to population centers and major service hubs at local scales such as Semnan and Qom; proximity to the city region of Tehran, which exceeds 10 million inhabitants; and with the aim of forging stronger linkages with biodiversity domains in the northern part of the country and in Mazandaran Province, both in terms of physical connections and in creating various social and economic flows between the south and north of the Alborz mountain range (which currently have relatively weak connections). Secondly, the high local demand to leverage the capacities of Mehdishahr and Shahmirzad cities and their natural habitats is another reason for attention to this issue. Given the area’s tourism potential and prior experiences with dispersed development, the study seeks to establish a decision-support framework to identify and evaluate suitable site options for a tourism village. In this context, a combination of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods is employed to ensure a comprehensive and efficient site localization process.

Materials and Methods: The province of Semnan, situated midway between Tehran and Khorasan Razavi provinces and as a linkage between the east and centre of the country, has historically enjoyed a special status and advantageous position. In addition to its notable connectivity, its natural location at the junction of two different climates and at the foothills of the Alborz Mountain range provides the province with distinctive climatic diversity and picturesque landscapes. Mehdishahr County (also known by the old name Sangesar) is one of the counties in Semnan Province, located in northern Iran. In this research, 30 experts with diverse specialties were engaged to achieve the objectives. Specifically, 30 professionals in tourism, urban planning, regional planning, physical geography, and natural resources were selected to identify the factors influencing the selection of a suitable location for a tourism village. In the next stage, each factor is pairwise rated. After identifying the vulnerability factors, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is employed to analyse and assess the quality and intensity of these factors. At this stage, the vulnerability criteria are weighted according to their importance and their relevance to the status of the county. This method analyses each criterion based on pairwise comparisons and ultimately leads to the evaluation and ranking of the assessments. For this aim, Spatial data related to land use, tourism infrastructure, access, and environmental criteria were collected. A hybrid Delphi–Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach was used to rank candidate locations. The process pursues three main goals: (1) extracting the key criteria that influence the sustainable development of a tourism village, (2) weighting these criteria through expert consensus via Delphi and AHP, and (3) evaluating proposed locations using GIS-based assessments of accessibility, landscape attractiveness, capacity to accommodate visitors, and environmental sustainability.
Results: First of all, the criteria were evaluated, and within each criterion, sub-criteria were scored. Based on the results obtained from the Delphi survey and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the vulnerability index during natural disasters received the highest score (0.173). It can be stated that this factor accounts for the largest share in the assessment of the suitable location for establishing an industrial town from the perspectives of geographic and environmental studies, with 17.3 percent. Based on the criteria examined, the natural environment criterion has the highest score, with a weight of 0.4 among the criteria examined. The physical and infrastructure criterion has the lowest weight, with a weight of 0.28. Among the natural environment criteria, the lack of vulnerability to natural disasters is the most important. So that this criterion has the most importance among the 13 natural environment criteria with a weight of 0.173. Also, the climatic conditions criterion has the least importance among the natural environment sub-criteria. In the physical and infrastructure index, land ownership has been assigned the highest importance with a coefficient of 0.246. Considering that the location must be in a place that is part of national lands and does not have private ownership, it is of great importance. In the tourism criterion, distance from tourist centers is the most important with a coefficient of 0.168. Field study results indicate that, in the location of the Shahmirzad tourism site, the proximity to the main attraction is the most important factor in site selection for tourism, followed by factors such as proximity to transportation routes and proximity to settlements and infrastructures, which rank second in importance. The remaining factors (proximity to the specific tourism attraction, distance from fault lines, seismicity of the area, flood risk of the area, slope percentage, solar orientation of the slope, land use, erosion potential, and flood potential) fall into the subsequent ranks. GIS analysis reveals that natural-environment constraints—particularly topography and infrastructure status—vary across areas and play a decisive role in attracting investment and village development. The multi-criteria process, integrating criteria of accessibility, landscape attractiveness, visitor capacity, environmental sustainability, and environmental constraints, identified areas with the highest potential for tourism development. Ultimately, three options for establishing a tourism village were considered, and after field visits and refinement, Site 1, located at the midpoint along the Shahmirzad–Kiasar road and south of Deh Sofian village, was selected as the best option. This site, given its combination of accessible access, scenic vistas, visitor capacity, and compatibility with environmental constraints, was deemed more favorable than the other options.
Conclusion: Today, numerous studies have validated the effectiveness of multi-criteria decision-making models within GIS environments for identifying suitable locations for tourism, environmental, and energy projects. Base on the results obtained from the above indices, each examined layer was scored using ArcGIS. Ultimately, the map of suitable zones for the establishment of a tourist town was produced. Given the region’s significant natural constraints, suitable zones for settlement in Mehdishahr County are limited. Furthermore, the northwestern sectors of the county lie within areas designated as protected by the Environmental Protection Agency. According to environmental protection laws, any construction and settlement activities within protected areas are prohibited. Consequently, the Protected Breeding Area (“Parvar”) is removed from the set of suitable zones for establishing a tourist town. Nevertheless, there are suitable zones in the central and northeastern parts that could be appropriate for the aims of this study. The findings indicate that despite the region’s strong tourism potential, environmental and infrastructural constraints can pose significant barriers to sustainable development. The GIS–MCDM framework enables integrated, comparative evaluation of options and can assist local decision-makers in identifying sites suitable for sustainable tourism development. The Delphi and AHP methods play a crucial role in reducing uncertainty and achieving expert consensus; their integration with GIS enhances the strengths of multi-criteria decision making.