Developing Urban Areas of Tourism Development as Development of Cultural Tourism Case Study: Ardebil City

Tourism is one of the sections that require proper planning and attention to attract great amounts of exchanges, so its economic input can guarantee a large part of the unemployed population suitable employment. Urban tourism is also one of sub-sectors of tourism that has recently been considered by most planners and custodians. Meanwhile, the city of Ardebil, due to its historical background and its current potentials, welcomes large number of tourists annually and in case of proper and efficient planning, it can affect its economic development. In order to encourage tourists to re-choose the city as their perfect destination, it is wise to provide proper infrastructures. In this research, distribution of tourist attraction centers in Ardebil is evaluated: historical and scenic centers, recreational centers equipped with leisure facilities and servicing centers. It is a descriptive - analytic study. To evaluate the existing condition of facilities and tourist centers, the kernel density analysis was used. The results reflected the consolidation of facilities and tourist centers in the central part and of the historic fabric of the city. District 1 of the city has better dispersion of tourism attractions mainly because of its proximity to the downtown. Districts 2,3, and 4 are ranked, respectively.

tourism, priority of areas, GIS, Ardebil