Tourism Management Studies

Abstract In recent decades, urban tourism has led to various spatial evolutions in the holy city of Mashhad. Excessive concentration of key actors of Mashhad urban tourism on the potential of religious tourism caused to the lack of optimal attention to the potential of other types of urban tourism. It is tried in this research with a descriptive approach, to study spatial effects of urban tourism attractions on Mashhad tourism services. For this purpose, the spatial data of the Mashhad urban database has been used. The results of this study indicate the significant spatial effects of Razavi Shrine on the spatial distribution of tourism services studied in this study. Compared to the Razavi Shrine, other tourist attractions have had a different effect on the spatial distribution of urban tourism services in Mashhad.

Abstract The identification of tourism market segments helps to better develop travel packages and more efficient strategies. By identifying the expected values derived from the behavioral patterns and comparing them with the behavioral interests of the travel of elderly people, along with individual characteristics, the market for elderly tourists can be segmented and predicted. In terms of the purposes, this is an applied research and in terms of the data collection method, this is descriptive-survey. The qualitative approach and the Delphi method has been used to identify the expected values and, to predict market groups, a quantitative approach using neural networks has been used. This research has been conducted among 380 Esfahani and Tehrani elderly tourists using non-random and available sampling method. The results show that values are due to individual and personality traits, travel motives, travel experiences, travel style, and travel pleasure. The market for elderly tourists was identified and predicted based on the expected values, with the neural network technique in three conservative, prosperous and younger groups.

Abstract Theme parks represent a huge and fast-growing part of the world's hospitality and tourism industry, which has become an interesting and important research topic for marketers and activists in this industry. Creating and preserving memorable experiences along with meaningful mental image is an essential part of the marketing management of the water park industry which leads to behavioral goals such as recommending the park to others and the intention of visitors to re-visit. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the factors influencing the behavioral intentions of tourists visiting water parks in the city of Mashhad. This is a descriptive research and of the correlational type. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, 384 visitors were selected using a simple sampling method and a standardized questionnaire. Also, structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. The results of the hypotheses testing showed that the quality of experience has a positive effect on the mental image, satisfaction and perceived value of the visitors, and the mental image of the visitors has a positive and significant effect on perceived value, satisfaction, and pleasure of the visitors. Although the perceived value and pleasure of visitors have a positive effect on satisfaction, the visitor's pleasure does not directly affect his or her behavioral intentions, and this effect occurs indirectly through satisfaction. The findings provide insights for water park managers and marketers and allow them to understand the factors affecting visitor behavior such as recommending others and the intention to re-visit the water park and as a result, organize services in a way that meets the needs of visitors

Abstract Considering the global competitive environment, branding tourism potential is important in directing resources and attracting investment. Today, most countries and cities are planning to earn foreign exchange using this green industry. Therefore, in this research, considering the high potential of Fars province in the field of historical tourism, we seek to evaluate the tourism brand of Fars province based on the tourism development document of this province in 1404 and national competitiveness. In terms of the methodology, this is a descriptive-analytical and in terms of the purposes, this is an applied research. The required data and information collected using library and documentary sources (tourism development document of Fars province) and survey method (questionnaire-interview). The results show that Fars province in terms of tourist attraction and branding criteria, has a competitive map below Mashhad with 3.5 points and 3 out of 5 points, respectively, and it is in a competitive situation with Isfahan province and above other national and regional rivals (Khuzestan, Yazd, and Kerman). The result of the proportional map shows that the main factors influencing the development and branding of tourism in Fars province are macro-management of the country, lack of credit, political perspectives on the historical tourism of Fars province, restrictions of the Islamic society and international sanctions. Also, the most important features of Fars province which have four characteristics of rarity, non-repeatable, irrelevant and valuable are Shah Cheragh shrine, the tomb of the characters and national monuments, historical monuments of Fars province. Therefore, considering these sources and the significant variables affecting tourism branding in Fars province, a map of strategic alignment has been drawn and appropriate strategies have been suggested

Abstract Human is a perfectionist creature who has been seeking to know, and travel which is based on motion provide a platform for the realization of the human meaning-orientation approach. Meaning-orientation is the concept of trying to understand the meaning of being; consist of different elements. In terms of the methodology, this is a qualitative and descriptive research and is conducted in the form of library studies and field interviews in two parts, using content analysis method. The elements of meaning-orientation are explored and integrated from three perspectives of the West, Islam, and Tourism. In the first part, after assessing the interviews of the experts, the three elements of knowing God, human and the world as the elements of the tourist's meaning-orientation were derived. In the second part, based on the interview with the foreign tourists of the Tehran market in January 2016, the connection between the three elements of meaning-orientation with the tourist perception of the trip was examined. The results show that knowing the world and human has a longitudinal relationship with knowing God. The tourist in the search of knowing the world around him/her and the inner spiritual force that leads him/her to recognize history, the background of the culture and art of humans as much as possible, knows the creator of these talents and creates artwork. In fact, the contemplation and concentration of the foreign tourist of Tehran's market is his/her inward spiritual power

Abstract Today, consumer emotional arousal has become very popular among marketers. It is widely accepted that people’s old memories can serve as an excellent tool to sell products to them. Marketing experts have always tried to tie their products into memories of the simple and calm days of people. The places and their advertisements for attracting visitors are not exceptions. The importance of creating and maintaining a distinctive atmosphere has gained increasing attention among researchers and tourism managers and it is considered as a key factor in attracting and satisfying customers as well as increasing financial performance by maximizing revenue and market share in the tourism industry. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of perceived nostalgia on attachment to place. In terms of the purposes this is an applied research and in terms of the methodology, this is descriptive –survey. The questionnaire was used to collect data from which 302 clients from the "Sini Por" traditional restaurant were investigated and examined. Using the Structural Equation Modelling and Smart PLS software, the data collected from the sample has been analyzed. The results indicated that the relationship between attachment to place and perceived nostalgia is significant.

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to provide an integrated model of the Kano and associative rules for classifying customer needs and analyzing their behavior. The statistical population of this research includes customers of four and five-star hotels in Tehran. In this research, after collecting data, customers' expectations were categorized from the website by the Kano model and then the relationship between customer demographic characteristics and the results of the Kano model was specified by associative rules. The result of the classification of services by the Kano model shows that booking online and tracking reservations are in the category of basic needs; booking by e-mail and free download are in the category of functional needs, and information websites and e-newsletters are in the category of exciting needs. Also, as an example, the results of exploring associative rules show that for men, having an online reservation on a website is a basic need with the probability of 93%, but this is a basic need for women with the probability of 89%.

Abstract Keeping up with global trends and gaining competitive advantage requires that tourism destinations determine their strategies based on the recognition of the importance of their competitive features and performance. In the present study, the IPA approach was used to assess the importance of various activities for gaining competitive advantage in destination management and the performance of two destinations of Yazd and Shiraz. The results showed that, from experts view, in both destinations, about half of the criteria with low importance and poor performance were in the lowest priorities for allocating resources. Based on the average points of importance in Yazd, the dimensions of "crisis management", "marketing", "climate change", "tourism and hospitality education", "sustainable development" and "product development and innovation" and in the city of Shiraz dimensions of "climate change", "marketing", "crisis management", "sustainable development", "product development and innovation", and "tourism and hospitality education" were identified from the most important to the least important aspects of destination competitiveness, respectively.