Abstract

There are parts of the Middle East that can be regarded as being among the least preferred tourism destinations in the world. Research shows that travellers' perceptions of the region, as a whole, have been damaged and that, for some nations, the situation has gone from bad to worse. The combination of a hard-line attitude towards religion, oil and water shortages have led to the onset of war and conflict, either among countries within the region, or have resulted in countries from within the region having conflicts with countries located outside of the region. This paper looks at the Middle East in general and Iran in particular in order to review its tourism potential and explains how the process of its development as a tourism destination has been hampered. This research also attempts to discover why, in spite of several attempts by the Iranian government, tourism has failed to develop to its true potential. The research is informed by a questionnaire survey of travellers together with a Mini-Delphi Study of tourism academics.