Iran, France plan to expand tourism cooperation

EghtesadOnline: Khorasan Razavi ACECR Institute for Tourism Research has started collaborations aim to use international capacities in the field of tourism with the University of Montpellier.

News ID: ۷۷۷۹۲۹

25 July 2017

In this regard, the president of Tourism Department of the University of Montpellier visited Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM) and Institute for Tourism Research.

According to PressTV, he met the head of ACECR, Dr. Ali Akbar Shamsian and the president of FUM, Dr Mohammad Kafi.

They discussed further international scientific research cooperation in the field of tourism as well as sharing experiences on the sustainable development of tourism.

At the end of the meeting, Dr. Ali Akbar Shamsian on behalf of (ACECR) and the professor Dominique Crozat on behalf of the University of Montpellier signed a Tripartite Memorandum of Understanding.

The agreement has been signed in 10 articles in order to exchanges of students and researchers, holding seminars and conferences for the exchange of information and ideas on educational and research programs and joint doctoral theses for five years.

Dominique Crozat is Professor of Social Geography at the Université Paul Valéry – Montpellier 3, in France. His research is oriented to overcome the traditional concept of geographic representation, with a reflection on performativity and production of hyper real spaces. His main research subject is the geography of leisure and the construction of identities in spatially segregated spaces.

He presented a speech about “ecotourism, virtual tourism, night tourism and etc”.

Currently, Prof. Crozat is leading the MA in territories, societies, planning and development at the University Paul Valéry, teaching “tourism and sustainable development of territories”.

Pointing to the social impacts of tourism, Crozat said, “tourism is not exclusively an economic phenomenon, it also involves social, cultural, political and environmental aspects. It is therefore, important to realize that any assessment of tourism impacts should not only be concerned with the tangible economic effects such as revenue and foreign exchange earnings, but also with non-economic and intangible effects, such as social and cultural ones”.

“Tourism is a global phenomenon that for its success depends on the physical environment and a wide range of natural resources, including water, energy, wildlife, food, and landscapes. Tourism has a significant impact on natural resources and the environment, while it can also contribute to the conservation of these same resources,” he emphasized.

“Tourism has the potential to increase public appreciation of the environment and to spread awareness of environmental problems when it brings people into closer contact with nature and the environment. This confrontation may heighten awareness of the value of nature and lead to environmentally conscious behavior and activities to preserve the environment,” the professor also noted.

“Negative impacts from tourism occur when the level of visitor use is greater than the environment's ability to cope with this use within the acceptable limits of change”.

“Today, virtual tourism doesn’t really impact the business except as a promotional tool, but as new generations become more comfortable with virtual reality there will be new options to exploit it in different ways and could bring new opportunities for additional revenue,” he noted.

“France stands out as one of the most popular European countries for those that are looking for agritourism,” Crozat continued.