National Geographical Organization Scientific- Research Quarterly of Geographical Data (SEPEHR) 2588-3860 22 88 2014 01 21 Analyzing and rating tourism development potentials and their influence on sustainable development using TOPSIS multivariable model (Case study: Mazandaran province) Analyzing and rating tourism development potentials and their influence on sustainable development using TOPSIS multivariable model (Case study: Mazandaran province) 62 68 25651 FA Mohammad Reza Zand-e Moghaddam Azad University,Semnan Sepideh Habibi Kutanaei Azad University, Semnan Journal Article 2014 01 03 Nowadays, tourism industry is among the largest and most varied industries of the world to the extent that many countries consider it as their main source of foreign exchange earnings and job creation, establishing social justice, cultural growth, increasing welfare level and a field for the growth of private sector and a means for the development of their infrastructure. The present article seeks to find an answer to this research question: “what are the reasons for this country not benefiting from various advantages of tourism?” The research method is applied-descriptive which is performed in the form of a case study. While collecting information about the tourism development of the provinces and categorizing them, its potentials were ranked using TOPSIS. Results indicate that for most of the cases the province’s potentials are not in a good situation in terms of development index. Nowadays, tourism industry is among the largest and most varied industries of the world to the extent that many countries consider it as their main source of foreign exchange earnings and job creation, establishing social justice, cultural growth, increasing welfare level and a field for the growth of private sector and a means for the development of their infrastructure. The present article seeks to find an answer to this research question: “what are the reasons for this country not benefiting from various advantages of tourism?” The research method is applied-descriptive which is performed in the form of a case study. While collecting information about the tourism development of the provinces and categorizing them, its potentials were ranked using TOPSIS. Results indicate that for most of the cases the province’s potentials are not in a good situation in terms of development index. https://www.sepehr.org/article_25651_2abb73368bdec87c1ebcd83baae08823.pdf