Fayaz Gul Mazloum Yar, Najeeb Ullah Talash

Investment Priorities and Barriers for Desert Tourism in Western Afghanistan: A Mixed-Methods AHP–TOPSIS Assessment

Introduction

Investment priorities and barriers for desert tourism in western afghanistan: a mixed-methods ahp–topsis assessment. Discover investment priorities & barriers for sustainable desert tourism in Western Afghanistan using AHP-TOPSIS & mixed methods. Highlights community participation, green tech, and security risks.

Abstract

Desert tourism in western Afghanistan presents both investment potential and socio-environmental risks, yet empirical guidance for prioritizing interventions is scarce. This study identifies and ranks investment priorities and persistent barriers to sustainable desert tourism and examines how community participation mediates investor intent. This study used a convergent mixed-methods design. Decision criteria were elicited with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) from n = 15 regional and sector experts; criteria weights were applied to a TOPSIS ranking of preferences derived from a structured survey of n = 300 stakeholders. Qualitative triangulation was provided by semi-structured interviews (n = 25). AHP pairwise matrices were evaluated for consistency (report CRs in manuscript). Inferential analyses (multiple regression and mediation testing using bootstrap resampling) examined relationships among perceived risks, community partnership mechanisms, and investment intent. Results show AHP/TOPSIS integration produced a clear priority ordering of investment criteria; green-technology and community-partnership mechanisms emerged among top priorities (see Table X). Survey models show statistically significant associations between perceived security risks and reduced investor intent; community participation attenuates this relationship (bootstrapped indirect effect — report point estimate and 95% CI). Qualitative themes corroborate quantitative rankings and clarify context-specific barriers (infrastructure gaps, governance, and security). Combining AHP and TOPSIS with qualitative evidence yields actionable, locally grounded investment priorities for desert tourism policy and planning. Prior to submission, insert exact CR values, regression coefficients, p-values, and bootstrap CIs in the placeholders provided. Limitations include cross-sectional design and sample representativeness.

Review

This paper addresses a critical gap in the literature by empirically investigating investment priorities and barriers for sustainable desert tourism in Western Afghanistan, a region with significant potential but also inherent socio-environmental risks. The study's aim to identify actionable interventions and understand the role of community participation in investor intent is highly relevant and timely. A key strength lies in its sophisticated convergent mixed-methods design, integrating quantitative approaches like AHP–TOPSIS with extensive qualitative triangulation. The abstract clearly indicates that this robust methodology yielded a prioritized ordering of investment criteria, highlighting green technology and community partnership mechanisms as top priorities, while also demonstrating how community participation can significantly attenuate the negative impact of perceived security risks on investor intent. The methodological rigor is commendable, employing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) with 15 regional and sector experts for decision criteria elicitation, followed by a TOPSIS ranking based on a substantial survey of 300 stakeholders. This quantitative foundation is further strengthened by qualitative insights derived from 25 semi-structured interviews, providing rich contextualization and corroboration of the quantitative findings. The planned inferential analyses, including multiple regression and bootstrapped mediation testing, promise a nuanced understanding of complex relationships. While the abstract explicitly notes placeholders for specific values (CRs, regression coefficients, CIs) that are crucial for full transparency and methodological validation, it appropriately acknowledges key limitations such as the cross-sectional design and potential issues of sample representativeness, demonstrating a critical self-awareness. Overall, the study makes a significant contribution by providing locally grounded, empirical guidance for desert tourism policy and planning in a challenging but promising context. By combining advanced multi-criteria decision-making techniques with extensive stakeholder engagement and qualitative depth, it offers actionable insights that are sorely needed for sustainable development in the region. The findings regarding the critical role of community participation in mitigating security-related investment hesitation are particularly noteworthy. This paper is poised to be an invaluable resource for policymakers, investors, and community leaders seeking to foster responsible tourism development in similar sensitive environments.

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