Evaluating the Relative Efficiency of Iran's Tourism Industry: A Non-Parametric Approach

T ourism is one of the most invaluable industries in the world, attracting millions of foreign tourists every year. In terms of historical and cultural attractions, Iran is among top 10 countries, however, it has a small share of foreign tourist's arrival. Iran's tourism boom depends on providing the suitable conditions for the arrival of tourists, included service elements (i.e. hotels and travel agencies) and infrastructure for aviation, rail, road and naval. Inefficient use of these fundamental factors is known as the major obstacles to growth and development of tourism industry. Accordingly, we evaluate the tourism efficiency of Iran provinces along with their full ranking, based on a data envelopment analysis. The results from the weighted model indicate that Khorasan Razavi, Qom, West Azarbaijan, East Azarbaijan, Kurdistan and Isfahan provinces have the highest efficient scores. North Khorasan, South Khorasan, Golestan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Semnan and Bushehr also have the lowest scores, respectively.