Effective tourism management model (case of a religious destination-Mashhad)

Mashhad stands out as one of the major pilgrimage destinations of Iran, for accommodating the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza, – the 8th Imam of Shiites – which attracts floods of pilgrims and religious tourists every year during the vacations (holidays and memorials). However, mismanagement of tourism facilities and services causes much damage to the industry of the city. As the proper management of tourism destinations and the organization of tourists’ affairs, are two of the most important challenges for governments, defining a suitable pattern for the effective management of this pilgrimage destination seems to be an unavoidable necessity. To achieve this objective, destination management process was studied initially in this research, success factors were identified, and finally the pattern for effective management of destinations was outlined. By comparing the current models of destination management, the Kerach & Richi’s (2003) was found the most suitable for this study. A questionnaire was developed to ask experts their views on the ideal and the current situations of the model’s factors in Mashhad. Obtained results demonstrated a gap between the ideal and the current situation in all the investigated parameters. At the end, based on the data analysis findings, some remedies for improvement of the current situation were offered.