Investigating the effect of religious events on choosing a tourist destination through the mediation of cultural similarities (case study: Arab-speaking tourists of Mashhad)

The present research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of religious events on the choice of tourist destination through the mediation of cultural similarities (case study: Arab-speaking tourists of Mashhad). The statistical population of the research was all the tourists of Qom city in the time frame of the research. The statistical sample size was determined to be 384 people. The sampling method was used due to the improbable limitations of the available corona. The data collection tool is the standard questionnaire of Naini (2008) for the variable of cultural similarities and the standard questionnaire of Bakshizadeh (2008) for the variable of choosing a tourist destination and the standard questionnaire of Zhou (2008) for the variable of religious events. Cronbach's alpha was used for the reliability of the questionnaire and confirmatory factor analysis was used for the construct validity. The results of the research show that religious events have a significant impact on choosing a tourist destination and cultural similarities mediate this relationship.