Assessment of Potential Ecotourism Sites using Multi-Influencing Factor and Geo-spatial Technique in District Swat, Pakistan

The main purpose of the present research is to assess and identify the potential ecotourism sites in district Swat of Pakistan using the Multi- Influencing Factor (MIF) and Geographical Information System (GIS). Landscapes/naturalness, rainfall, temperature, sunny day. Wildlife distribution, land use land cover (LULC), elevation, slope, proximity to cultural and historical sites were taken into consideration. The literature review was used as the basis to determine the parameters. The multi influencing techniques was efficiently utilized in the present study to delineate sub-parameters as suitable, less suitable and unsuitable. In order to figure out the potential sites for ecotourism, the final weighting of the parameters was calculated in the ArcGIS 10.8. based on the analysis, there is a lot of opportunity for ecotourism in the selected site; however, the southern part of the study area has greater potential compared to the rest. The main contributors are the accessibility, rich historical archaeological sites, wildlife distribution, and its infrastructure. Although there are amazing glacial lakes, dense vegetation and scenic scenery in the northern part, but accessibility is a main challenge. The central and western sites having the less potential for an ecotourism f perspective. Results of the study are expected to be useful in the identification of ecotourism potentiality in Swat district and socioeconomic growth in the region.