class of the used factors is given. Typically, the priority of each factor involved in the AHP analysis is
determined based principally on the suggestions from experts [20]. To ensure the credibility of the
relative significance used, AHP also provides measures to determine inconsistency of judgments
mathematically. Based on the properties of reciprocal matrices, the consistency ratio index (CR) as shown
in Equation (1) can be calculated. Saaty [21] suggests that if CR is smaller than 0.10, then degree of
consistency is fairly acceptable. But if it’s larger than 0.10, then there are inconsistencies in the evaluation
process, and the AHP method may not yield meaningful results.
In this process, experts’ opinions were asked to calculate the relative importance of the factors and
criteria involved. CR* was also calculated and found to be 0.05 for ecotourism, which is acceptable to be
used in the suitability analysis. The calculations of pair wise comparison matrix and computation of
consistency ratio are given in Tables 3 and 4, respectively.