European Journal of Scientific Research ISSN 1450-216X Vol.61 No.1 (2011), pp. 108-113 © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2011 http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr.htm Feasibility Assessment for Tourism Development in Persian Gulf (A Case Study of Hendourabi Island) Mehrdad karami M.A Student in Regional Development Planning Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Allameh Tabataba'i Shari'ati.Al, Ghol Nabi.Ave, Tehran, Iran, Postal Code: 1544915113 E-mail: Karami2888@yahoo.com Tel: 00989196820612 M. H. Imani Khoshkho Assistant Professor of Science and Culture University Tehran, Iran Abstract Today, tourism industry is one of the fields that give diversity to the countries’ economy. Whereas, according to investigations of the Global Tourism Organization, tourism is a key to development in many developing and less developed countries. On the other hand, a brief review of the economical planning of our (Iran’s) neighbors and their general focus on tourism as one of the most important sectors of economy, further confirms the need to pay more strict attention to this competitive market. Therefore, it seems necessary to expand the tourism market of these islands and remove their deprivations via canonizing facilities and infrastructures there. The type of this research is explanatory- analytical. The outcome of the present study indicates that Hendourabi Island has a good potential for tourism development, but it needs investment and planning. The island has a unique situation because of being located near the strategic Hormoz strait, neighborhood with the capitalist Arab countries, nearness to the free commercial zones, good weather in autumns and winters, having beautiful coastal landscape, and nearness to small fragmented islands suitable for winter camps, etc. Keywords: Tourism development, tourism economy, regional development, Persian Gulf, Hendourabi Island 1. Introduction Today, tourism is among the important sources of revenue globally, being an effective factor in cultural give and takes among countries (Kazemi, 1386: 1, my translation). Therefore, local researchers and experts tend to investigate the role of tourism in economical and social development (Albalate & bel, 2009: 1). Additionally, as a smokeless industry, tourism is a cause and an outcome of the globalization process (Mowforth & Munt, 2003: 8). Tourism development is one of the most economical ways of job creation (Malekian & Naderi Bani, 1381: 1). Tourism industry has created many jobs and revenues, especially in those market layers that suffer from undesirable economical variables such as low skill jobs and part time low skill jobs (Russo & Borg, 2002: 31). According to the reports of the Global Tourism Organization, the number of