Evaluation of management drives impacts on development of historical-cultural tourism (Case study: Tabriz metropolis)

 Nowadays, tourism is one of the most dynamic industries in the world, which has a great impact on the economic growth and dynamism of countries and has become one of the most complex human businesses in many countries. This industry is considered as a multifaceted activity of a mechanism to increase employment, earn income and attract foreign exchange; according to the latest statistics, one out of every 10 important jobs in the world has been related to the tourism industry. Therefore, different countries are looking for solutions to develop tourism; in particular, countries with weak economies in transition are more focused on developing the industry as a way to grow and develop as well as currency. On the other hand, given that the amount of value added and income from the development of tourism, has a major role in GDP and citizens to have a sustainable livelihood; therefore, nowadays, attention to the formation of tourism in its various forms has been considered by different countries. Considering the importance of tourism development in the present era and the place of historical-cultural contexts in achieving this, the purpose of this study is to identify the management drivers affecting the development of historical and cultural tourism in Tabriz metropolis. The historical context of Tabriz, despite its potential, currently does not have the desired environmental and spatial quality. Therefore, paying attention to this context in order to recreate it and also the development of tourism is one of the priorities of city officials. 

The research method in the present study is applied in terms of purpose, survey in terms of implementation method and cross-sectional in terms of time. For this purpose, first the required indicators have been extracted in the form of documents and referring to tourism-related researches, and in order to measure the effective management impulses on tourism development, managers, officials and experts of Tabriz Historical-Cultural Region (Region 8) have been questioned. Therefore, the statistical population of the study is the managers, officials and experts of the municipality of Tabriz historical-cultural region (about 300 people) and the sample size is estimated based on the Delphi method of 100 people, which the method of accessing the sample size is based on a targeted model. Also in order to analyze the data, has been used of structural equation modeling method in Amos software.

Findings indicate that the most important management drivers affecting the development of tourism in the historical-cultural context are extra-organizational capacities, intra-organizational capacities and project criteria and definitions, for which the coefficient of the structural model has been 0.71, 0.63 and 0.56, respectively. Also, among the sub-variables, the most influential are related to the variables of forming institutional interaction with other public and private organizations in order to develop historical-cultural tourism, the ability to strengthen local mechanisms to develop historical-cultural tourism and targeted understanding of historical context and flexibility in historical texture programs for tourism development with coefficients of 0.77, 0.72 and 0.65, respectively.
 

Over the past few decades, tourism has undergone a variety of continuous changes and has become one of the largest economic sectors. One of the most important factors in the development of sustainable tourism in any region is how to manage related activities. Thus, the discussion of management is an important part of planning and as the basis of work, which is the act of directing and controlling a task or organization. Management also includes a systematic approach in which the dynamics of tourism in the context of supply and demand is considered with emphasis on economic sustainability and utility and the social consequences of tourism. On the other hand, due to the extensive changes in today's cities and the lack of coherent planning, especially in the historical-cultural contexts, it has been marginalized by these valuable contexts that play a pivotal role in tourism development. Considering the importance of tourism discussion and the important role of historical-cultural contexts in this field, the purpose of this study is to identify impacts of the management drivers on development of historical-cultural tourism in Tabriz metropolis. The results indicate that in the first place, the most effective drivers of external capacities (external capacity building), in the second place, institutional capacity drivers (internal institutional capacities), and finally, the third most effective drivers are criteria and definition of projects through factors such as emphasis on public development. And pedestrian-centered, purposeful knowledge of historical context issues with a future research approach, careful monitoring of compliance with bylaws and sections and emphasis on multidimensional goals (social, economic, physical) will promote the historical context and consequently the development of tourism.