نازنین تبریزی

As an emerging concept in tourism studies, “Contemporary Arts Tourism” is currently discussed within the framework of Cultural Tourism studies. The growing status of Arts Tourism in developed countries indicates the significance of art in a sustainable development process. The case also holds true for Iran. In this regard, the current status of the “Culture and Arts” and “Tourism” economy heralds a promising future as an alternative to the present economy that is based on oil and natural resources, considering the fact that the cultural capital required for such a development already exists. Therefore, this study sought to identify the challenges and requirements of developing contemporary art tourism in Iran using the grounded theory approach. To this end, the required data were collected through specialized interviews with twenty-seven participants, including art experts, tourism professionals, and relevant government employees. The collected data were then analyzed using three stages of coding, including open, axial, and selective coding. According to the study’s results, the government, the tourism sector, and the art society were identified as the main actors (stakeholders) in developing contemporary art tourism in Iran. However, as the concerted performance of such actors is crucially important for the realization of the goals of such a development, redefining the actors’ roles and revising their duties are the main requirements of such a development. Furthermore, factors such as training, flexibility, improvement of the artistic creation’s infrastructure, development of the tourism industry’s requirements, and correction of Iran's image in the international arena seem to be of great importance.

The study utilized a descriptive-analytical approach, employing documentary studies and field investigations to evaluate the criteria for establishing a cultural heritage village in the global precinct of Firozabad. A researcher-developed questionnaire was administered to 350 individuals from the local community, focusing on three critical criteria: heritage capacities, travel industry infrastructure, and community participation. Data analysis was conducted using statistical software, including SPSS and Smart PLS, incorporating descriptive statistics and inferential tests aligned with the research objectives. Given the region's rich cultural and natural attractions, The findings suggest favorable conditions for establishing a heritage village in the Firozabad global complex. However, challenges such as the need for comprehensive studies, management issues, and budget allocation need to be addressed. Additionally, the travel industry infrastructure requires improvement to meet global standards, necessitating public and private investment. Government support and community involvement are crucial for the success of heritage village initiatives, and educating the local community about the benefits of tourism can foster practical support for such projects.

The use of new technologies has created a new type of tourism called virtual tourism. Marketers and tourism activists need to know more about the motivations of tourists in order to promote and progress in this field. Hedonic motivation has also been studied by researchers as a significant case. The present research aims to investigate the dimensions of hedonistic motivation and virtual tourism in the continuous use of tourist destinations in Mazandaran province. This research is applied in terms of purpose and based on descriptive-analytical nature. The statistical population of the research was the tourists of Mazandaran province by the available sampling method in Nowruz 1400. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire, whose validity and reliability were evaluated through SmartPLS3 software. The findings showed that among the components related to hedonistic motivation, the components of adventure and exploration, social relations, awareness of the process and satisfaction affect hedonistic motivation. Also, the findings indicate that hedonic motivation has an effect on continuous use. Among the components related to virtual tourism, only the perceived enjoyment component of virtual tourism has an effect on continuous use.

Tourism destinations are looking to find new tourism methods to compete in this industry and night tourism, as one of these methods, has attracted the attention of tourists in recent years. Shiraz city, as one of the main tourism areas in the country, has much potential in this field. The current study aims to investigate the effect of the night view of Shiraz city on the prosperity of tourism in this city. This research has been carried out using a descriptive-analytical method with an emphasis on case study. A total of 335 people were randomly selected as a statistical sample and a researcher-made questionnaire, which was designed with three independent variables (tourists' satisfaction, tourists' revisits, tourists' subjective perceptions) and one dependent variable (tourism boom), was distributed among them. The data was analyzed using SPSS and Lisrel software with tests, Friedman, confirmatory factor analysis, and equation models. Results showed that the independent variables of tourist satisfaction with a factor of 0.33 and T value of 64.7, tourists revisiting Shiraz city with a factor of 0.79 and T value of 44.1, and tourists' mental perceptions of Shiraz city with a factor of 0.57 and T value of 45.12 have a positive and significant relationship with the dependent variable of tourism boom in Shiraz city with an error level of one percent. The findings of the research show that Shiraz enjoys a very good tourism boom, providing infrastructure for the nightly presence of tourists to visit historical buildings and monuments, attractive cultural and religious places, and recreational spaces due to their high desirability for tourists, causing development and prosperity of night tourism in Shiraz city.

This research aims to assess the benefits of gamification and its impact on tourism development at the historical site of Persepolis. The research methodology employed in this study is descriptive-analytical and is based on documentary studies, field investigations, and researcher-designed questionnaires. The target population for this research consists of active individuals in the tourism industry, with a sample size of 354 participants selected. Data analysis was conducted using tests such as average variance extracted (AVE), Fornell-Larcker, factor loading coefficients, Cronbach's alpha, composite reliability, and structural equation modeling, utilizing SPSS and Smart PLS software. The results of this study indicate that gamification exhibits a positive and significant relationship with all four dimensions under investigation: education, branding, loyalty, employment, and income generation. Gamification at Persepolis provides a recreational and educational experience and enables tourists to engage with the culture and history of the country they are visiting in a novel and interactive manner. With an enhanced tourist experience through gamification, Persepolis is poised to become a unique and captivating tourist destination.

 This research was conducted to identify the challenges and problems of tourism management in the desert destination of Baft city.

 The research is developmental in terms of purpose and survey in terms of nature. The research's statistical population includes the Baft city council and municipality members. The number of statistical samples was calculated to be 30 people. Data was collected through interviews, and data classification and analysis were done through interpretive analysis and Maxqda software in open coding.

  From a total of 30 interview texts, 437 codes have been collected, divided into eight main categories under the title of identifying the challenges and problems of the Baft Desert tourism destination. In this way, "the lack of access to water resources" in desert areas is the highest, with 120 codes. Also, the findings indicate that tourism opportunities in desert areas should be organized based on desert geography and existing crises, marketing and development goals, local education, and human resource development. In this way, possible damages to the destination can be identified and corrected to develop as much as possible.

 It has been observed that the management of tourism in this particular destination is facing certain challenges. Therefore, the basic resources of the destination, characteristics, and competitive skills should be determined so that aligning the business goals with the long-term sustainable development goals causes the fragile destination to become an environmentally friendly, sustainable, and tourist-friendly destination.

Innovation:

 This research is the only research that has been done on tourism management in Baft city, and its results are effective in the sustainable and long-term development of tourism in this destination.

Objective The present study was conducted to investigate the opportunities for the development of a niche food tourism market in Rasht. The research method is descriptive-analytical in terms of applied purpose. The statistical population of the study includes all managers, employees and heads of restaurants in Rasht that 384 people were selected as a sample based on the available sampling method. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (structural equation model) with spss and pls software were used to analyze the data. Based on the results of the macro environment, the capabilities of enterprises and the characteristics of the industry were identified as opportunities for the development of a niche market in food tourism in Rasht. The results of structural equations showed that the macro environment (0.724), capabilities of enterprises (0.164) and industry characteristics (0.051) have an effect on the development of a niche food tourism market in Rasht, respectively.

Tourism can help create happiness and, therefore, provide people with the satisfaction of life. On the other hand, the presence of a "happy host" is a fundamental requirement for the successful development of tourism, making the monitoring of the tourism-induces happiness and satisfaction level a key factor in any such development program. In this regard, as assessing the issue in Noshahr and Chalous cities (as two main tourist destinations in northern Iran) is of particular importance, this study set out to investigate the role of tourism in constructing the indices of a happy city in Chalus and Nowshahr. The statistical population of the study comprised residents of Nowshahr and Chalous cities. Moreover, the sample size was estimated to be 380 using Cochran's formula, and the participants of the study were selected via the convenience sampling method. Finally, the data collected from the questionnaires distributed among the respondents were analyzed through structural equations and factor analysis using the SPSS and PLS software. The results revealed that tourism was effective in creating happy cities in Nowshahr and Chalous. However, according to the results of statistical tests, the extent of such influence was found to be very poor. It was also found that tourism slightly increased the welfare, happiness, social participation, and satisfaction of the residents of Nowshahr and Chalous cities.

There is no single formula for sustainable urban and regional development for all countries, and each country with its social, economic, ecological and spatial conditions should seek to develop specific criteria for sustainable urban development. In this regard, Tehran as a macro The city and capital of Iran, in terms of geography (physical-spatial and functional) and due to the unbalanced development of the land and the oil economy, face numerous challenges. A metropolis that has crossed red lines in most socio-economic and environmental indicators, and the policies of centralism from the past to the present in the political, administrative, commercial, industrial and educational fields have led to a strong concentration of population and activity in its space. This study aims to explain the role of effective factors in sustainable development of Tehran metropolis. The research method was qualitative method and the main tool of data collection and analysis was the quantitative Delphi technique. The research results show that the most important factors influencing the sustainable development of Tehran metropolis are: responsibility, strategic and foresight, flexibility, respectively. Accountability, decision-making, power structure and non-parallelism of institutions.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the cultural values of Babolsar citizens and their satisfaction with tourism activities. The present study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in methodological view. The sampling method of this research is simple randomization. The statistical population of the study is the citizens of Babolsar, of which 382 were selected using the Cochran's formula. The research questionnaire was developed from standard questionnaires related to Hofstede cultural dimensions and satisfaction with tourism. For the first time, the present study measured the relationship between Hofstede dimensions and citizen satisfaction. SPSS software was used to perform descriptive tests and Inferential statistics of the research were done by PLS software. The results showed that the cultural values of citizens have a significant relationship to their satisfaction with tourism activities and this relationship was observed in three components of the six studied dimensions, including individualism/ collectivism, long/short-term orientation and indulgence/restraint. The city of Babolsar is a society with a cultural balance in the distribution of power, strong uncertainty avoidance, individualism, balance with a tendency towards feminism and a long-term and extremist orientation.

Human life depends on the survival of nature, and without nature human life is doomed to destruction. Given the importance of nature in human life, as well as the proliferation of cities, the integration of nature in cities for the survival of human beings is inevitable. Now, considering the importance of integrating nature in cities with a more specialized concept as biophilic cities, the researcher examined the Biophilic indices in Isfahan on tourism (cognitive image - affective image - word of mouth and intention to visit). Structural equation method in Smart PLS 3 software was used to analyze the data. The results indicate that all four hypotheses of the study were confirmed and the Biophilic indices in Isfahan had effect on affective image, cognitive image, word of mouth and tourists' intention to visit, and the most impact was related to the affective image factor.

Elderly tourism is recognized as an important part of tourism industry in many developed economies. A prerequisite for a tourism region to be able to take advantage of these capacities is to have comprehensive and thorough research in this field. This part of the tourism market needs destinations that provide the necessary facilities in every way for the convenience and comfort of the elderly to grow, promote and attract as many tourists as possible. To achieve this, changes are taking place in the development of tourism destinations for the elderly, which in some cases can be called creativity, resulting in the emergence of creative cities. The purpose of this article is to assess the relationship between the prosperity of silver tourism in creating a creative city. In the section describing the concepts and theoretical foundations, a number of domestic and foreign articles were reviewed and 380 questionnaires were designed to be answered by the citizens of Ramsar. In this research, Smart PLS 3 Software was used to analyze the data. To measure the reliability of the data, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used and all the variables had a Cronbach's alpha above 0.7. According to the results of data analysis, the presence of silver tourists in the city of Ramsar improves the indicators of the creative city and has the greatest impact on the quality of life component.

Urban areas are often considered very important tourist destinations due to their many historical and cultural attractions. For this reason, urban facilities and equipment are among the most important factors that can attract international and domestic tourists in a city. Therefore, this study examines the development of tourism and green indicators of smart urban growth in the city of Isfahan and evaluates the role and impact of three green indicators, urban furniture and arrays, sidewalks and green spaces. The method of the present research is descriptive-analytical and survey method and is applied in terms of applicability. Using a questionnaire to collect basic information and using SPSS and PLS software, it was found that the three green indicators of furniture and urban arrays, sidewalks and green spaces based on the proposed research model have a positive impact and role in development. Isfahan tourism and the results performed on a sample of people in Isfahan, showed that the index of urban green spaces has a greater impact on the development of tourism in the region than the other two indicators and the index of furniture and urban arrays and sidewalks are in the next categories.

The metropolis of Tehran, as the capital of Iran, faces nu - merous physical, spatial and functional challenges. The purpose of this study is to provide criteria and indicators of the optimal model of spatial management for the metropo- lis of Tehran with a sustainable development approach. The research method, qualitative method and the main tool of data collection and analysis, Delphi Technique have been selected. The statistical population of the study is the me- tropolis of Tehran and the statistical analysis unit including officials, executives and managers of relevant national, pro- vincial and local executive bodies; Academic experts and experts in the subject area of this research and consulting engineering companies. The sample population was 30 ex- perts in the relevant fields. In addition to Delphi stages anal- ysis, a set of qualitative and quantitative analysis methods including Content Analysis, rational and logical reasoning and one-sample T-test have been used. The results show that the sustainable development of Tehran metropolis depends on the desired model of spatial management of the metropo- lis. The components (criteria) of such a model are: integrity, participation, flexibility, responsibility, accountability, stra- tegic, forward-looking and sustainable. Also, the favorable situation of spatial management of Tehran metropolis should monitor the realization of various dimensions of sustainable urban development and meet the different environmental, socio-cultural, institutional, economic and physical-spatial .needs of the metropolitan area

The "place" attitude has been expressed as an important component in many fields of knowledge and professional activities. However, little attention has been paid to this concept in tourism that place is a main element. The sense of place enables tourism destinations to maintain their own unique nature and to attract tourists. By studying the theoretical framework of the subject, the dimensions of the sense of place have been categorized into three physical, semantic and functional dimensions, and human interaction with these three elements forms the sense of place. On the other hand, in recent years, tourism market of Tabriz has grown significantly and multi-sensory attraction in the city can increase domestic and foreign tourists. Accordingly, in this research, the sense of place has been measured with three physical, semantic, and functional dimensions, and its relation with attracting tourists has been investigated. Also the research aims to investigate the relationship between the sense of place and attracting tourists in Tabriz city to answer the question whether there is a relationship between the sense of place dimensions and attracting tourists in Tabriz?

The type and method of this research is applied and descriptive-analytical one and also it is a survey in the form of a questionnaire. The study area is Tabriz city. It is the most visited city in northwestern Iran, one of the historical capitals of Iran and the current center of East Azerbaijan province. The statistical sample of the research includes tourists who visited Tabriz from summer 1397 to spring 1398.The sample size of tourists by using of the Cochran formula was estimated to be 384 people and SPSS and PLS statistical software programs have been also used to analyze the data obtained from the questionnaire.

In this study, the average age of the respondents was, 20.1% under 20 years old, 29.7% between 29-20, 33.6% between 30-39, 20.8% between 50-40 and 14.1% above 50 years old,respectively. Most people had a bachelor's degree (37.5%) and a private job (31% of respondents). Also, 48.4% of the statistical sample have stayed in Tabriz for more than two nights and 47.9% of them have visited Tabriz for the first time. Most of the research indicators have substantially expressed the research structure. Among the indicators related to the physical dimention variable, "facade" (0.76) and "element" (0.72) had the highest factor load and "Permeability" (0.35) and "Color" (0.35) had the lowest factor load Due to the path coefficient, the intensity of the relationship between the semantic dimension variable and tourist attraction to the value of (0.37) is higher than other  variables.The t-value between the physical, semantic and functional variables with the tourist attraction variable is 3.79, 4.7 and 3.57, respectivelythat indicates a significant relationship between mentioned variables at the 99% confidence level.

The results of this research show that there is a significant relationship between the physical variable of the sense of place and attracting tourist. Also, there is a significant relationship between the semantic and functional variables of the sense of place with the attracting tourist variable. The semantic variable also explains more than the other two variables of the dependent variable changes, and the physical and functional variables are the next priority. The results of the study can be used to identify important indicators of the sense of place that are extremely notable in attracting urban tourists. It can also be considered by tourists and urban planners. According to the physical dimension of the sense of place expresses 31% of the tourist attraction variable, so it indicates the importance of this dimension in attracting urban tourists. The urban elements and building facades indicators are effective on encouraging visitors to walk around the city, and the "permeability" and "color" ones have the lowest factor load. It was also found that the semantic variable with more impact than other variables expresses 37% of the changes in the attracting tourist variable that indicates the importance of maintaining sense in the city for tourists. In this variable, the beauty and legibility of the city have become more important for tourists. But the collective/ individual memories and security indicators, as compared to other indicators, require more attention. Among the indicators of functional variable that describes 26% of the changes in tourist attraction, tourist satisfaction, recreational diversity and compliance with expectations demonstrate the highest amount, and the event indicator had the lowest factor load. This indicative that there is the lack of local events and ritual in Tabriz city. In fact, Tabriz has performed very poorly in terms of them.

Cultural Ecosystem Services are non-material benefits people obtain from ecosystems. CES are connected to human health and well-being and cannot be out sourced , they are provided by linkages between people and the environment they live in. Todays with the unfavorable development and rapid growth of Isfahan as the third largest city in the country without the necessary infrastructure, in addition, the age of modernity and the capitalist world and the process of modernization, is no longer conceptualized by pure urban culture. So, obtaining cultural ecosystem services by people are becoming endangered. With direct relation between tourism and culture, this study target to identify wether tourism had able to develop cultural ecosystem services in Isfahan, district 3. In this research, library studies were used to collect data and information, as well as field studies including interviews and a researcher-made questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed in two ways: the statistical population of this study included experts in tourism and urban planning and citizens of Isfahan region 3 (n = 383). Validity was confirmed by the views of professors and experts, and reliability was also confirmed with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.93. Then statistical software such as LISREL and SPSS were used for analysis. It is worth noting that the results show that there is a significant relationship between tourism and cultural services in Isfahan region 3 (standard co-efficient = 0.43 and T =7.27) and 20% of cultural services changes due to tourism.

Today, advanced virtual reality technology has changed the tourism industry by providing an opportunity for pre-experience destination. Therefore, the industry faces the challenge of realizing virtual reality technology to attract and retain potential tourists. To this end, in this research, the role of virtual reality display in shaping the sense of spatial presence and behavioral intentions after experiencing the virtual environment is considered. 302 potential outbound tourists who were chosen by the snowball method, in two separate groups participated in the research. The data collection tool was a questionnaire that was distributed after testing validation and reliability. Data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation test. The results showed that the virtual reality display has a positive effect on the sense of self-location and possible actions of the sense of spatial presence. Virtual reality display does not directly, but through the sense of self-location affect behavioral intentions after experiencing the virtual environment. Spatial ability impact the sense of spatial presence. Therefore, the more user has the spatial ability, the better he can feel being in the virtual environment. Also, there is a positive correlation between spatial presence and behavioral intentions.

The findings revealed that the tourism growth within districts 1, 3, and 8 has positively impact-ed physical, economic, and organizational-politi-cal restructuring of those areas within the city of Shiraz, while it has no impact on socio-cultural and environmental restructuring of the city. This finding can be attributed to the way Shiraz policymakers make plans for the improvement of different aspects of the city. It seems that organizational-political restructuring can be re-garded as the most influential dimension for the development of cities or countries across the world. Consequently, if necessary changes hap-pen within policymakers’ perspectives, and the employment of experts within the area of civil tourism, it can be expected that every dimension of restructuring happens within our country.

In recent years, agriculture has faced many problems in the most parts of the country so that it is not useful for Farmers Economic Issues. Due to the importance of agriculture and lack of attention, many countries in the world have recently developed agricultural tourism as complementary agricultural activities, which can lead to improved agricultural conditions and consequently promote local economy level. when it will happen that local people get involved in agricultural tourism development. In this regard, the purpose of this study is measurement of the participatory behavior and its role in the development of agricultural tourism in the city of Sisakhat.The population of the study consisted of farmers of sisakht.The sample size was estimated using the Cochran formula with a 5% error rate of 362 people. The research model was tested by PLS3 software that involved the analysis of the measurement model (first step) that assessed the validity and reliability of the measures and structural equation modeling (second step) to identify relationships among latent constructs.The findings of this research indicate that according to the type of farming activities, variety of garden products, as well as planting stages and products harvesting in all seasons, especially seasons (spring, summer and autumn), tourism in the study area, have the necessary capacities to create and Develop agricultural tourism, however, for obtaining this purpose, the participation of farmers and the local community is need.

Music tourism accounts for one of the most attractive forms of tourism. In this line, local music plays a crucial role in tourists’ attraction. This is a significantly visible observation in the city of Aghqala located in Golestan province as it holds a long history in local music of Turkmen. The existing literature on this regard has largely a predominant focus on economic effects, while the socio-cultural effects have not been given sufficient attention. The present study attempts to contribute filling this research gap and a stronger emphasis is given to the socio-cultural effects of local music of Turkmen. Methodologically, this study employs the hierarchy analysis method and Expert choice software. The results of this study from experts’ perspectives indicate two key patterns. On the one hand, the most attractive aspects of local music tourism include greater levels of social proud, social participation and social beauty. On the other hand, high crime rate, heavy traffic and weakening the local dialect account for the most destructive aspects of local music tourism.

Winter sports tourism is a key economic factor in many mountainous regions worldwide. This type of tourism is considered to be one of the most important and profitable that has become more popular in recent years. Ski resorts in the present era have become one of the areas of tourism planning and management.In other words, this kind of tourism has helped create local businesses due to its many enthusiasts and has turned into a strategy for economic growth and development. Iran's Ardabil province is in a relatively good position in terms of winter sports and mineral waters attractions. The authorities need to use these potentials for developing winter sports.The aim of this study is to measure sports tourism developmentwith recreational complex and ski resort of Alvaras Sarein from the perspective of tourists. Methodology The statistical population of this study is sports and non-sports tourists who traveled to the area at least once, as well as tourism and sportsexperts in the province of Ardebil. Due to the limited statistical population, Morgan Table was used to determine the sample size. A total of 380 questionnaires were distributed in which 318 questionnaires were approved and were collected for analysis. The data collection method was library and a researcher-made questionnaire. In order to determine the validity of the questionnaire, the views of professors and experts in the field of tourism and sportswere taken. To determine the reliability of the questionnaire, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used. In order to analyze the data and research objectives, structural analysis equations for measuring variables were used in the smart pls software environment. In this research, effective variables for the development of sport tourism in the Alvares ski resort included infrastructure, environmental, sports factors and management factors, each of which includes a group of indices.   Results and Discussion The results of load factor analysis show that all of the indices are well explained by the research structure. Indices related to the use of modern technologies (0.809), the existence of clubs and provincial league (0.801), cultural programs and native festivals in sports events (0.818), variety of products and sports activities (0.838) and the presence of a guide and translator on site (0.814) have had the most explanatory power in the structure. Whereas distance indices from the airport (496/0), safety (511/0), signs and indications for guidance (561/0), locker room and storage and heating system (591/0), distance to the ski resort (527/0). Facilities and equipment intended for the disabled (0.508), wind speed in the region (0.551), natural landscapes (0.772), rivers and hot springs (0.483),the climate of the region (0.580), cleanliness from the point of view of waste accumulation (0.548), distance to centers (0.592), booths and commercial stores (0.881), vegetation and green spaces (536/0), the presence of sports shops (516/0), travel agency services (0/510), staff specialization and performance (0.566), the overall level of prices (0.7766) and security (0.445) have the least power of structural explanation. Also, the results of their path coefficient showed that there is a causal relationship between variables of the research. The intensity of this relationship between the infrastructure variable and the variable of sport tourism development (0.446) is more than other variables. T-value was used to measure the relationship between the variables. The results show that there is a significant relationship between infrastructure factors and the variable of sport tourism development at the 95% and 99% confidence level. The amount of the T-value between the two variables of sports factors and sport tourism development is (1.85), which shows that at 90% confidence level, there is a significant relationship between the two The amount of T-value between environmental factors and sport tourism development is (4.40), which shows a significant relationship between the two at 95% and 99% confidence level. Also, T-value between managerial factors and development of sport tourism is (3.74) which show a significant relationship at a confidence level of 95% and 99%, respectively.   Conclusion The results obtained through the analysis of structural equations show that all indicatorsmeasuring the variables well explained the research structure and the indices related to the use of new technologies (0.809), the existence of clubs and provincial league (0.801), cultural programs and festivals, the native sporting events (0.818), the variety of products and activities (0.838), and the presence of local guidance and translator (0.814) had the most explanatory power in the structure. The path coefficients of the research variables indicate a direct causal relationship between the variables of research and the intensity of this relationship between the infrastructure variable and the variable of sport tourism development (0.446) is more than other variables. The fitting of measurement, structural and general models also confirms the conceptual model of research.

The pattern of the global population growing trend toward older adults and this has led to a global phenomenon in the 21st century. The increasing burden of demographic aging presents unique challenges to families, communities, and nations, as well as to the promotion of health and well-being in later life. The process of ageing goes on in parallel with today’s trends of urbanization. The risks of city living impact everyone but seniors (defined as those aged 65 years or above) are particularly vulnerable due to age-related needs and preferences (e.g. to stay in their own homes, and/or near their children and grandchildren). Tourism is one of the Suitable activities for the elderly in order to improve their physical and mental aspects. Tourism compels them to mobility and come out of isolation and inactivity. Urban tourism becomes one of the main functions of the cities. If it can provide the demand and expectations of elderly tourist and create age-friendly city, it will lead to Tourist Satisfaction of tourism Destination. Making cities more age-friendly is a necessary and logical response to promote the wellbeing and contributions of older people and keep cities thriving. An age-friendly city encourages active ageing by optimizing opportunities for health, participation and security in order to enhance quality of life as people age.
This study seeks to examine the relationship and effectiveness of the components of age-friendly city on satisfaction and loyalty of Mashhad elderly tourist based on the European Customer Satisfaction Index (ECSI) model. 183 questionnaires answered by the elderly tourist of this destination were investigated. Data were tested based on the proposed conceptual model and European model to measure correlation by using Spearman test and Regression path analysis. The results show a positive association between image destination, expectations, and perceived quality and, perceived value in the level of satisfaction and loyalty of destination. By increasing the amount of each of the four factors, satisfaction and subsequently loyalty index increase. In the Following the path analysis, image destination is the most influential factor on loyalty of this destination directly and indirectly. In addition, Satisfaction directly and perceived quality indirectly have been effective to create elderly tourists loyalty to the religious and cultural destination.

Introduction: Developing tourism in the areas that have the required capabilities can be a useful way for the host communities to comprehensively grow and develop. Attractions are necessary but insufficient elements to develop tourism in an area since developing tourism requires accurate identification of the area and providing services to tourists. More importantly, lack of careful planning to recognize the appropriate tourism may lead to undesirable consequences for the environment. Currently, most countries in the world are competing to take more advantages of their capabilities and obtain a larger share of revenue from tourism. However, unlike having a variety of attractions, the cities in Iran have so far failed to make use of this advantage well. Gorgan city with plains in north and mountains in south has special natural and tourism features so that there is a temperate climate and many water resources that can create an area rich in ecotourism attractions. In this regard, this paper aims at evaluating the ecological capability in order to organize sustainable ecotourism by using MCE in Gorgan city, contributing to planning and managing tourism in this area to maximize positive capabilities and minimize the negative ones. Materials and Methods: This paper is going to evaluating the ecological indices to organize sustainable ecotourism in Gorgan by using MCE (Multi Criteria Evaluation). Since identifying and evaluating tourism capabilities is a multi-criteria decision- making issue, this study uses fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making model and WLC method (Weighted Linear Combination) in GIS environment. This paper is an applied-developmental study and the methodology used in this study is analytical-descriptive. The collecting data tool is library research method (using articles, reports, and other written available documents), interview, and case-studies. Discussion of Results: This paper studied 31 sub-criteria under 6 main criteria. The criteria used in this paper include continuous and discrete data whose standardization and weighting vary in the nature and value attributes of each criterion. At this point, the data layers developed to be used in fuzzy analysis were converted to appropriate formats of IDRISI 17 and ARC GIS10.1. Moreover, we used fuzzy logic for combing layers and determining the degree of membership fuzzy logic. Each layer in fuzzy logic is between 0 and 1 (0 < μ(x) <1) (Lin, 1996). Regarding this fact that it is possible to show the values between 0-255 in computer systems, we may show them between 0- 255 rather than 0- 1. At this scale, larger numbers have more utility. That is, the closer are values to 255, the more utility they will have. Creating layers and fuzzy sets in terms of their nature and types of applications, we used different functions and finally standardized each spatial layer. Standardizing and weighting the criteria, WLC method was used to do phase modulation and overlapping operations, and the final maps were extracted. Generally, the Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) was used based on the following relation: S= ∑ i=1 to nWiXi∏Ci Conclusions: According to the evaluations in the studied area, the results indicate that the identified areas on the map as appropriate areas for the development of sustainable ecotourism are more located in the southern and central parts of the area. The northern parts that are mostly plains are not much potential in terms of sustainable ecotourism development. The results show that 129.8 km2 (8%), 355.52 km2 (22%), 371.68 km2 (23%), 533.28 km2 (33%), 226.24 km2 (14%) of the total 1616 km2 of the Gorgan city have very weak, weak, average, high, and very high capabilities for ecotourism development, respectively. the regions with high density of vegetation and water resources good climate (southern and central parts) have the most capabilities for ecotourism activities. Analyzing the utility map, the northern regions are not potential for ecotourism development.

Worldwide studies show that health is a vital stimulus that encourages older people to participate in tourism (Horneman et al., 2002), and the type of tourism that is encouraged and promoted by health is health tourism. Therefore, the services needed for health tourism are important. Today, health tourism is spreading in a variety of sites, including hot springs, mineral water springs, seas and areas with suitable climate (Pollock et al., 2000), and many countries are competing in this regard.
Health tourism is a comprehensive journey focused on developing, maintaining and improving the body, mind and soul (Smith&Kelly, 2006). This type of trip is usually attractive for people over 50 who are economically rich and looking at health tourism as a lifestyle and also have experienced work stress (Smith & Puczko, 2009). Therefore, these activities are intended for the comfort of "people over the age of 50", "older people" and "elderly tourists". (Chen et al., 2013).
Therefore, considering the significant global growth of tourism in the hot springs and the natural resources inside the country, it is necessary to make further efforts to achieve a suitable regional and global position in various health tourism branches such as hydrotherapy. Iran has over 1000 mineral springs and Mazandaran province with 40 hot and mineral springs has most resources after West Azerbaijan province. One of the influential and active hubs of the province in this regard is Ramsar.