Qualitative analysis of the challenges and solutions for ecotourism development during the COVID-19 era: A case study of villages in Mazandaran province

The purpose of this research is to identify the causes, contexts, and damages resulting from the COVID-19 crisis on ecotourism businesses in Mazandaran province, as well as to propose strategies for increasing resilience against it. This research adopts a qualitative approach and utilizes non-structured interviews as the method for data collection. The sample size consists of 13 owners of ecotourism accommodations in Mazandaran province, who have been selected based on purposive sampling with maximum diversity. Accordingly, efforts have been made to select ecotourism operators with more than two years of experience in the field and with diverse educational backgrounds, ages, and genders. Theoretical sampling has also been employed, and the themes obtained from the initial interview coding have served as a basis for subsequent interviews to fill information gaps. The criterion for ending the interviews has been theoretical saturation.Given the conditions of the coronavirus and the closure of ecotourism accommodations, communication was established with the owners of these accommodations through tourism consultants. An interview questionnaire was sent to participants via virtual space (WhatsApp), and they were asked to provide detailed and descriptive answers to the questions in the form of audio files. In order to increase the credibility of the work, as soon as the audio files were received, they were converted from auditory format to written text by typing. The interviews were conducted between April and May 2021. This research was conducted using a qualitative approach and interview tools. Regarding the causes and exacerbating factors of the effects of the coronavirus on ecotourism, as well as the consequences and solutions, a total of 81 initial concepts were obtained, which were categorized into 2 main categories: general conditions (81 initial concepts), 4 main categories: enabling factors, 5 main categories: economic damages, 2 main categories: social damages, and 3 main categories: psychological damages. Furthermore, solutions were also divided into four main categories: economic and occupational solutions, social solutions, individual solutions, and cultural solutions. From the perspective of ecotourism accommodation owners, the most important cause of the exacerbation of the effects of COVID-19 on ecotourism was identified as ineffective executive management and lack of occupational skills as the most important underlying factors for exacerbating the effects of COVID-19. The most significant economic damage was a decrease in income and a decrease in the indicators of guarantee and reliability of tourism services, as well as the reputation and image of accommodations were the most important occupational damages.