مهلا رضایی

Branding refers to the development of a name, sign, symbol, or a combination of these elements that identify a specific product and distinguish it from competitors. Today, tourism destinations utilize branding as a fundamental strategy to achieve their goals. Given the intense competition among countries and regions to attract tourists, creating a place brand is one of the key marketing strategies in this context. In fact, destination branding is considered a practical method for attracting more tourists. The Simorgh brand has been introduced as the tourism brand of Iran. This article aims to examine the dimensions of the Simorgh brand from the perspective of tourism professionals in Iran. For this purpose, the dimensions of branding have been compared with the characteristics of the Simorgh brand. This research employs a mixed-methods approach, utilizing both library research and field study methods to collect data. Additionally, the fundamental correlation technique was used to analyze the dimensions of the Simorgh brand. The research findings indicate that brand satisfaction holds the highest value, while brand awareness ranks the lowest. This suggests that, overall, tourism industry professionals in Iran have a high level of satisfaction with the Simorgh brand. Each dimension is examined and analyzed in detail, followed by recommendations for the further development of the brand.

The present research has been carried out with the aim of identifying the challenges of tourism in Soleqan village during the Coronavirus pandemic with an analytical approach it is functional and it has been done using qualitative paradigm and exploratory theory method. The research community is made up of tourism experts and specialists from different rural areas and 15 of them were selected by using the combined purposeful sampling method. The data collection method was done using library studies, interview protocol, and direct observation and continued until reaching the theoretical saturation level. Data analysis was performed using coding. The collected data were analyzed through content analysis. The results of the research show that the most important challenges caused by the pandemic in Soleqan village are: not being used, remaining unknown and destroying the human, natural, and cultural capacities of villages, paying less attention to the native and local attractions of the villages, economic recession (poverty and unemployment), the inefficiency of the policy process, planning and lack of government and local support.

Understanding the motivations behind tourists' decision to travel to a particular region greatly contributes to comprehending their behavior. This study aims to identify, categorize, and prioritize the motives of domestic tourists who choose to travel to Kerman city. The research methodology employed an applied approach, a descriptive nature, and utilized a mixed data type. The collection of research data involved the utilization of field and library methods. The statistical population for this study consisted of domestic tourists who visited Kerman city in March 2022 and were accessible for the researcher. The research sampling method used was non-probability sampling, specifically employing the easy or available sampling type. The identification and categorization of tourists' motives were achieved through the application of the Exploratory Factor Analysis method, while the prioritization of the identified motives was conducted using the TOPSIS method. The results of the data analysis demonstrated that the motives of domestic tourists for traveling to Kerman city encompassed the following aspects: the desire to visit historical-cultural attractions, religious motives, work-related motives, motives related to the economic benefits of travel, motives associated with group travel, motives to visit friends and relatives, shopping motives, entertainment and recreational motives, nostalgia, appreciation of the natural environment, and learning motives.