neda torabi farsani

Tourist guides play a key role in the satisfaction of tourists in the destinations. The present research has investigated the satisfaction of tourists with the performance of the Isfahan tour guides of Rahian-e Noor. In order to achieve the above goal, a mixed method (quantitative-qualitative) was used. In the first stage, an online questionnaire including Likert scale questions and a number of open-ended questions which components were extracted based on the literature review was designed and distributed to tourists who participated in Rahian-e Noor tours. 384 samples were collected based on Morgan's table and the data were analyzed with the help of the one-sample t-test and thematic analysis. The results of the quantitative analysis of the data illustrated that the level of tourists' satisfaction with the performance of the guides was high and only in the support activities of the local community there are weakness and the satisfaction is low.Also, the results of data analysis using a qualitative method revealed that in the investigation of the component of managerial power, storytelling and narrative methods , time management, the importance of demographic characteristics of narrators, providing cultural programs in travel and providing services to all age groups should be considered. In addition, the results of the present study demonstrated that participation in Rahian-e Noor tours has increased the fighting skills and personal development of tourists.

Nowadays, industrial tourism, especially visiting old factories, is one of the markets with special tourism interests, which will not only create an opportunity to preserve the tangible and intangible industrial heritage but also provide additional income for the factory by turning a part of the factory into an industrial heritage site and it will be a strategy for the factory to get out of the single - product economy. Old silos are one of the industrial-agricultural architectural heritages some of which are still in use today and will be abandoned if they are not turned into a suitable use. Old silos contain great historical, educational, and industrial values. One of these silos is the old silo of Isfahan, which is the case study of the present study. This research pursues the following two goals: 1) to discover suitable solutions to preserve old silos as an architectural and industrial-agricultural heritage based on previous studies, and 2) to identify sustainable change land uses for obsolete industrial space of the old silos of Isfahan City. The current research is exploratory-applied and uses the systematic review method. The data collection tools were articles, books, newspapers, and websites. The findings of the research illustrated that old silos in the world are used for tourism (museum, rural and industrial heritage site to promote industrial tourism, and artistic tourism center) and non-tourism (social and cultural centers, sports halls, and multipurpose warehouses). In addition, the results of the qualitative comparative analysis of the old silo of Isfahan with other old silos of the world and Iran indicated that turning the obsolete industrial space of the old silos of Isfahan city into an eco-museum of bread and wheat or an industrial-agricultural heritage site for the promotion of industrial tourism is the most suitable change land use. Regarding this, using color performance and painting in the landscape of the old silo is a strategy to attract more visitors and tourists.

Nowadays, art tourism is one of the markets with special interests, the prosperity of which can play an important role in the development of Iran's tourism. Among the applied arts of Iran, handmade carpet has a historical background and a high reputation in the world. East Azarbaijan Province, as one of the historical centers of Iran's handmade carpet production, has been selected as a case study of this research. The current research pursues two main goals, which are: introducing the potential of East Azerbaijan province for the development of cultural tourism with an emphasis on handmade carpets and identifying key factors for the development of cultural tourism with an emphasis on carpets in East Azerbaijan. In this research, the qualitative method (thematic analysis) and the structural analysis research method with the help of MicMac software as a future research studies have been used.The results of the thematic analysis illustrated that East Azarbaijan province has a great potential for the development of cultural tourism with an emphasis on handmade carpet with four main themes of human resources, historical importance of Tabriz carpet, attractions and social culture. Additionally, the MicMac software output demonstrated that the variables of organizing educational programs and empowering carpet traders and producers for carpet tours, organizing educational programs and empowering tourist guides for carpet tours and creating financial incentives for them, and targeted and digital advertisements are the most effective variables.

There are villages in the world that have a different color than what is always thought of as a village, and the coloring of the landscape in these villages not only provides happiness and vitality to the local community but also by attracting tourists to the village and promotes the local economy. The present research, with the help of a qualitative method (Thematic analysis) and interpretive structural modeling through MICMAC software, strive to identify the key drivers for turning the village into a tourist destination with the help of coloring the rural landscape. The tool of data collection in the present study was an interview form and the data was collected using the snowball sampling method. The results of the data analysis illustrated that the three factors of the safety of access routes to the village, the existence and possibility of developing infrastructure and tourism facilities, and the proximity to natural color mines are among the most critical and key infrastructure drivers. Also, based on the results extracted from MICMAC software, empowerment of the local community was identified as one of the most important social drivers. In addition, the choice of color to be used and its quality according to the architecture and climate of the village, cracking and underlying of the walls, using special colors for the facade (silicone), avoiding busy work on the patterns of the walls, the color of the village soil and the type of materials used was introduced as the most effective physical variables.Lastly, it can be said that paying attention to the key drivers in the coloring of the rural landscape can be a creative economic solution for promoting rural tourism.There are villages in the world that have a different color than what is always thought of as a village, and the coloring of the landscape in these villages not only provides happiness and vitality to the local community but also by attracting tourists to the village and promotes the local economy. The present research, with the help of a qualitative method (Thematic analysis) and interpretive structural modeling through MICMAC software, strive to identify the key drivers for turning the village into a tourist destination with the help of coloring the rural landscape. The tool of data collection in the present study was an interview form and the data was collected using the snowball sampling method. The results of the data analysis illustrated that the three factors of the safety of access routes to the village, the existence and possibility of developing infrastructure and tourism facilities, and the proximity to natural color mines are among the most critical and key infrastructure drivers. Also, based on the results extracted from MICMAC software, empowerment of the local community was identified as one of the most important social

The Silk Road was a major trade route between China and Europe between the third century B. C. and the fifteenth century A. D. In recent years, WTO and UNESCO attention to the heritage of the Silk Road has grown, and attempts are being made to find strategies to preserve and exploit heritage sites located on this historical route. Meanwhile, promoting tourism can be a strategy for flourishing and entrepreneurship on the Silk Road.

The qualitative and quantitative method was used in this study and the Silk Road of Iran was selected as a case study. In the first step, an interview form was designed to identify entrepreneurial opportunities of Silk Road tourism of Iran. Data was gathered through snowball sampling method and analysed by using coding (open and axial coding) method. Finally, in order to determine priority of entrepreneurial opportunities of Silk Road tourism of Iran a Friedman test was applied.

The results demonstrated that entrepreneurial opportunities of Silk Road tourism of Iran can be classified into nine categories of opportunity – health & wellness, leisure and tourism, accommodation, public, transportation, business, cultural, administrative and financial. Also, the results of Friedman test revealed that among the accommodation opportunities restoration and changing caravanserai into hotels had the highest priority. In addition, experiencing historical travel style on the Silk Road of Iran was identified as the most important leisure and tourism opportunities. Furthermore, establishment of the restaurant on the Silk Road and serving the historical meals that flourished at the time of the flourishing Silk Road was mentioned by experts as an important public opportunities. It is noteworthy that, development of railway projects had the highest priority among transportation opportunities. And, commercial use of buildings on the Silk Road, such as holding galleries, introducing works of art, and offering commercially cultural products had the first priority among business opportunities. Besides, organizing cultural and historical tours was introduced as an important cultural opportunities. Moreover, among the identified health & wellness opportunities, arranging health and wellness tours on the Silk Road was the most significant opportunities. Creating a Silk Road secretariat and executive human resources was most attractive administrative opportunities. In addition, private investment for Silk Road tourism projects has the highest priority among financial opportunities.

The results of qualitative and quantitative method allow authors to conclude that promotion of tourism on the Silk Road of Iran is not just a strategy for preserving the heritage and protecting the Silk Road, but it can provide opportunities for entrepreneurship and the development of local economy. Regarding this, the implementation of the National Tourism Plan of the Silk Road is recommended with emphasis on the cities located on the historical rout of the Silk Road, approved by UNESCO. In addition, the study of the tendency of domestic and foreign tourists to travel to the Silk Road is one of the research that researchers are advised to do in the future.

The visitors visit the museums with different motivations. Since, motivation is prerequisite for decision-making and choice of destination, the motivation and needs of different visitors should be investigated effectively and efficiently. In addition, move towards the visitor motivation and needs can follow visitor satisfaction and increasing the number of visitors. Current research aims to identify the motivation of Isfahan Constitutional Museum visitors and compare it with Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Descriptive statistics and a qualitative method with the help of MAXQDA software were used to examine the research question, and the data was gathered through semi-structured interviews. The convenience sampling was used to collect data. The data reached the saturation point in interview number 40. The results illustrated that self-actualization needs are the first motivation for visiting the museum, which is divided into eleven open codes as visiting historical places and increasing historical information, learning, and interest, familiarity with the constitutional history and its events, interest in learning about the country's history, increasing historical information, taking photos, enjoying the architecture of the museum building and learning about it, academic research about the most influential people in the constitutional revolution, touching, feeling, smelling, and sensing history of Iran, familiarity with celebrities and characters of the museum, acquaintance with the biography of Haj Aqa Nourollah. Social needs were another motivation for visiting the museum. In addition, the need for safety and security was the last but not the least need that attracted the visitors to the museum.

Nowadays, the impacts of tourism are one of the academic topics and concerns of experts in this field, and they are trying to increase its positive effects through network and cluster activity and find solutions to reduce the negative effects of tourism. Sustainable tourism requires the active performance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and museums can also play an axial role as educational institutions. Unfortunately, there is no close relationship between museums and NGOs in Iran, and the International Council of Museums (ICOM) is the only active NGO in this field. In contrast, the collaboration of NGOs and museums can be a step towards popularising the challenges facing sustainable tourism development. The objectives of the present research are: 1) to identify the factors affecting the participation of NGOs in promoting museums and sustainable tourism. 2) to explore the collaborative opportunities of NGOs and museums towards sustainable tourism development. In this regard, the qualitative method (thematic analysis) was used with the help of MAXQDA software. The statistical population of the research was the active members of NGO experts in the fields of tourism, culture, museum, environment, and geography. The data was collected using a semi-structured interview form. It is worth mentioning that the data reached saturation point in the 20th interview. The data coding results illustrated that moral and professional codes and policymaking influence NGOs’ participation in the development of museums and tourism. In addition, the five main themes of cooperative education, collaborative and interactive thinking, participatory advertising, holding joint events and exhibitions, and social participation were identified as collaborative opportunities for NGOs and museums towards sustainable tourism development. It should be pointed out that cooperation and partnership relations are a suitable alternative to competition in sustainable tourism, and this partnership facilitates the achievement of sustainable tourism goals, which have been at the forefront of central policy of global tourism development for more than two decades.

This study follows three major purposes including recognizing the input variables in the development of tea tourism in rural areas of Gilan (Guilan) Province, Iran, and identifying the less strategic and dependent variables for promoting tea tourism in the case study of rural areas of Gilan Province.

Structural analysis in a foresight study was used in this paper. Firstly, the researchers recognized the key variables for promoting tea tourism in destinations with the help of the systematic literature review method and the extraction variables were categorized in two codes as tourism facilities and services with tea theme, and policy-making for promoting tea tourism.

The results of structural analysis through Micmac software identified the following variables as influence variables for tea tourism facilities and services: being familiar with tea processing, establishing tea tasting centres, holding tea ceremonies and tea cultural events, and being familiar with tea cuisine. Furthermore, visiting tea gardens and sightseeing, presenting tea culture performances, developing tea museums, creating an innovative tea package, establishing a tea shop/tea auction centre, participating in picking tea leaves, and establishing tea restaurants, hotels and accommodations are known as dependent variables. Moreover, according to the direct influence graph adding tea tourism to tour packages and visiting tea factories were recognized as less strategic variables for development of tea tourism facilities and services. In addition, organizing top to bottom level training and a comprehensive policy framework for tea tourism have the most impact on the system and were identified as input variables for policy-making for promoting tea tourism.

Analysing data through Micmac software illustrated that local participation, preserving the environment ecosystem, developing network activities and training tour guides for tea tourism are dependent variables for policy-making for promoting tea tourism. Lastly, accessibility and marketing are excluded as independent variables for policy-making for promoting tea tourism.

Recently, Iran has been facing economic problems and the latest technologies can help to overcome or facilitate its progress. Blockchain is one of the emerging technologies in the new era that through in-depth study on this topic and finding appropriate operational solutions can promote the tourism marketing. The present study follows three main objectives 1) to investigate the positive dimensions of blockchain in Iran's tourism boom, 2) to recognize the negative dimensions of blockchain in Iran's tourism boom, 3) to identify the appropriate strategies to manage the effective application of blockchain in Iran's tourism boom. Thematic analysis was used in this study. The results of data analysis illustrated that the positive dimensions of using blockchain in Iran's tourism can classified in 7 categories such as: To facilitate financial transactions in tourism, to eliminate of intermediaries in tourism, To facilitate contracts in the field of tourism, to facilitate travel planning and process, to facilitate validation and authentication, etc. In addition, the negative impacts of blockchain was also classified in 7 categories as follow: Lack of knowledge and acceptance of this technology, the inherent limitations of this technology, etc. Furthermore, the results of thematic analysis demonstrated several appropriate operational solutions which can promote tourism in Iran: policy making for use of blockchain technology in tourism; introducing the types and tourism segments which can be more active by using blockchain t; culturization organizing educational programs and workshops regarding using blockchain and its services; attracting foreign investors in the field of tourism

Ancestral Tourism: A Novel Market of Isfahan TourismSearching in family roots and traveling to discover genealogy with a leisure motivation is called tourism, which can not only create opportunities to introduce and preserve family heritage, but also diversify the tourism market. The present study pursued the following 3 objectives 1) identification of the potentials of Isfahan City for promoting ancestral tourism, 2) introduction of suitable travel packages of ancestral tourism in Isfahan Province, and 3) identification of appropriate strategies for promoting ancestral tourism. This research was of an exploratory type with qualitative method associated with thematic analysis. The statistical population of the study consisted of the experts in the fields of history, tourism, and culture. The findings of this research illustrated that Isfahan City had the potential of promoting ancestral tourism due to the presence of famous families, who had migrated to this city throughout history, families, who were known for their professions, royal families, neighborhoods called other cities in Isfahan;, and immigrants and refugees throughout the history, as well as different past divisions of the country. In addition, the incoming and outgoing travelers and city tour packages could be introduced as the revenue-generating opportunities in the ancestral tourism sector in this province. Lastly, the 4 strategies of market penetration, product development, horizontal integration, and collaboration could be introduced as suitable strategies for the prosperity of ancestral tourism in Isfahan City.

Surface topography is involved with cultural values in some destinations, and Neyshabur and Firuzeh Counties constitute good examples. In this paper, we present the primary geosites with cultural geomorphology values and aims to investigate the appropriate solutions for promoting geotourism with an emphasis on cultural geomorphology. Thematic analysis as a qualitative method and observation was used, and the results demonstrated that Neyshabur and Firuzeh counties include 19 geosites with cultural geomorphology values. We propose the use of marketing, government support, research and identification, local empowerment, and development of new products and services to offer to tourists with geo-themes as key solutions to promote geotourism with an emphasis on cultural geomorphology.

Literary heritage is one of the cultural and creative industries, which today literary tourism as a special interest tourism strives for its sustainable commercialization. The objectives of the present research are to identify the literary myths and folk stories in Isfahan city and the places related to them. In this regard, the qualitative method (thematic analysis) was used. The result of the data analysis illustrated that the city of Isfahan by including places with four sub-themes of folk stories about Abbas the Great; The folk tale about the needle men's alley (Soozangarha alley) and the Afghan attack on Isfahan; The story of eggs and the folk tale of fortune-telling of girls have a high potential for the development of literary tourism with an emphasis on folk tales. In addition, for the main theme of mythology and literature, six sub-themes were identified, which were: Mitra (myth of light); Symbols of Good vs. Evil in Iranian mythology; Anahita who is referred to as "Goddess of Waters" in Iranian mythology; The love story of Khosrow Parviz and Isfahan's lover, Shekar Isfahani; Sacred trees in mythology; The stories of One Thousand and One Nights, Kalīla wa-Dimna, Amir Arsalan-e Namdar, etc. Lastly, six literary tourism routes of Isfahan City were identified with an emphasis on myths and folk stories

NTRODUCTION: 

In recent years, Wellness tourism has grown considerably and this is due to spread of various diseases as a result of job stress, life stress, and unhealthy lifestyle. Hence, people try to pay more attention to health and tend to be more likely to prevent diseases and strive to improve their health through various ways, such as travel with the aim of health. Therefore, it can be said that today health tourism has become a trend of travel. In this regard, the city of Sareyn And the surrounding villages in Ardebil Province has a high potential for promoting Wellness tourism. This research has three major  purposes (1) to identifying the potential of Wellness tourism in Sareyn;(2) to investigate the domestic tourists tendency towards Wellness tourism activities in Sareyn; and(3) to prioritize the Wellness tourism activities from the domestic tourists’ perspective 2.

METHODOLOGY:

The research methodology is qualitative – quantitative and in the first step the statistical population are experts. The data was gathered through an interview form with snowball sampling method and lastly the data was analyzed using coding(open and axial coding) methods. In the second step in order to investigate the domestic tourists tendency towards wellness tourism activities a questionnaire(on a 5-point Likert Scale) was designed and the tourists filled in the forms. The data was evaluated through one sample t- test and Friedman tests. 3.CONCLUSION The results of this research illustrated that the Sareyn has a high potential for promoting wellness tourism and tourists have a high tendency towards wellness tourism activities, and activities such as nature sightseeing, nature tourism, clean air; mineral water springs, spa springs and hydrotherapy and hiking in nature, climbing and hiking in plain are their priorities for wellness tourism. The development of health tourism in the rapid geographical area leads to more interaction between rural and urban centers and through the expansion of rural-urban flows (including the flow of people, goods, capital, information and technology), to bilateral relations and finally, to rural-urban links. To lead. This trend, over time, in turn, leads to the dynamism of rural and urban spaces and creates more opportunities for business activities in the tourism industry and improves socio-economic conditions.

The present study focuses on introducing ghetto tourism; the main objective of this study is to introduce some villages in Isfahan Province as ghetto tourism destinations with emphasis on religious minorities. Since the emergence of niche tourism needs the study of its place, the present study is designed to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Isfahan Province for the prosperity of ghetto tourism.

To this end, SWOT and QSPM methods were used in this study. It is noteworthy that the data were collected through snowball sampling technique. The results of this study illustrate that Isfahan Province is strategically located in the aggressive area due to the internal and external factors affecting ghetto tourism, and strategies such as market development, concentric diversification, market penetration and product development can be used to boost rural tourism in Isfahan Province. 

Finding:

According to QSPM results, it can be concluded that holding more conferences regarding the cultural bridge of Iran-Armenia-Georgia among the market development strategies, organizing the festival of culture of minorities among the concentric diversificationstrategies, and holding a tour of visiting the ghetto villages of Isfahan among the market penetration strategies have the highest priority for ghetto tourism development in Isfahan. And the proposed strategies do not differ much in terms of priority and attractiveness for product development.

One of the crises that affected tourism in 2020, especially in the hospitality industry, was the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) health crisis, which had major economic damage on the global hotel industry for more than three months and it has caused the closure and adjustment of human resources in this sector. The present study, with emphasis on accommodations (hotels, ecological resorts, hostels, and traditional hotels) in Iran, attempts to identify appropriate solutions for the resurgence of accommodation business in the Post- COVID-19. The data collection tool in this study was the interview, A semi-structured interview with elites, experts, and researchers was done; Qualitative (Thematic analysis) method was used to analyze, and the results of the interview were analyzed using open coding and axial coding, illustrated that policy-making, collaboration, market penetration, product development, increasing awareness, and information exchange are suitable solutions for the prosperity of accommodation in the Post- COVID-19.

Literary tourism consists of a type of cultural tourism that allows tourists to travel for the purpose of identifying and obtaining cultural and literary values. Literary tourism provides visitors with the opportunity to explore tourism and literature at the same time. The present study aims to investigate the literary tourism potentials of Kerman province; consider the strategies which can promote literary tourism; and measure the domestic tourists' tendency towards literary tourism. Qualitative-quantitative methods were used in this applied research. In the first step of this research, in order to identify the potentials and the strategies to promote this type of tourism in Kerman, using the snowball-sampling method, experts in the fields of tourism, literature, culture, and art were interviewed, and then the results were analyzed through thematic analysis. According to the experts' ideas, four strategies that consist of product development, conglomerate diversification, policymaking, and marketing and market penetration are considered suitable strategies for promoting literary tourism. In the second part, a questionnaire was designed to assess the domestic tourists’ tendency towards activities and attractions of literary tourism and tours in Kerman. The quantitative results were analyzed using SPSS software. The results illustrated that domestic tourists have a high desire to participate in literary activities and tours in Kerman province. It is worth mentioning that all indicators except "participation in storytelling workshops, creative writing, songwriting and playwriting" are very popular with tourists.

Nowadays, mining tourism is known as a strategy for local development and an alternative economy in remote areas. Yazd province is Iran's mineral hub and has a high potential for promoting mining tourism. However, this form of tourism in the province has not been considered as it should. This paper emphasizes on recognizing the mining tourism routes in Yazd province. Field trip and observation method were used in this research, and the results identified four routes (Taft-Mehriz route; west of Meybod city; the route from Yazd to Tabas and The distance between Bafgh and Bahabad) for promoting mining tourism in the province.

The dynamic and competitive nature of tourism means that staying alive in a competitive world requires the emergence of special interest tourism in hotel industry and tourism marketing. The concept of special interest markets has emerged in recent years and can be said to be the opposite of mass tourism. Special interest markets differentiate tourists and offer activities and services based on their tendency, motivation to travel, and their needs. This study focuses on introduction of themed hotels and follows three major purposes: 1) to identify the suitable themed hotels for investing in Isfahan from the perspective of experts; 2) to investigate the tendency of domestic tourists to accommodate in thematic hotels and 3) to determine the tourists' perspective on the priority of themed hotels. This study was conducted in Isfahan city, Iran, and the data were collected through interview and questionnaire. The qualitative-quantitative method was used in this study and the results illustrated that domestic tourists tend to stay in thematic hotels, and from their point of view, traditional hotels, handicrafts hotels, and hotels that display the historic flourishing area of Isfahan are the top three priorities for accommodation.

Performing arts as important parts of human culture can help to conserve societies cultural identity ,all around the world .People of Iranian plateau have known Theater and dance in several mixed forms of music, play ,drama or religious rituals and have used instruments like masks, costumes of animals or plants ,and musical instruments for rhythm ,at least since6 th millennium BC .From ancient times ,cultural mixed forms of dance ,play and drama have served rituals like celebration ,mourning and worship in this area .The actors of those plays were masters of music, dance ,physical acts and manners of expression .Artifacts with pictures of dancers ,players or actors were found in many of archaeological prehistoric and historical sites in Iran .The first initiation of theater and phenomena of acting can be traced in ceremonial theaters to glorify national heroes and legends and to summon the enemy .Naqqāli as one of the oldest forms of traditional Persian Theater, is performing and recounting stories in prose often accompanied by music, dance and decorative painted scrolls. Tazieh, is another form of traditional religious Persian Theater in which the drama is conveyed through music, narration, prose and singing. Kheimeh shab bazi is the Persian traditional puppetry which is performed in a small chamber. Likewise, many other forms of traditional and modern performing arts are common in Iran. Since performing arts are parts of activities in art tourism, it can attract audiences with specific interests. Therefore, identifying of performing arts potentials can provide a new opportunity to attract audiences for tourism destinations. Isfahan, with its magnificent historical squares, streets and buildings, is considered as a popular tourist destination and a major cultural and economic center of Iran. Identification of performing arts potentials in Isfahan province is a huge step to develop the tourism industry in this area both qualitative and quantitative. The main objective of this research is to investigate strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats of performing arts in Isfahan province. And a SWOT (mixed method) model was used in this regards. In the first step, the data was gathered through an interview form with snow ball sampling method. Saturation has attained in 48 data. In the next step a questionnaire was designed according to previous interview forms in order to calculate the scores of determined items. Finally, the strategy was determined through SWOT matrix. The results revealed that the competitive strategy which emphasis on products variety is the best strategy for promoting performing arts in Isfahan. The competitive strategies presented are as follow: the necessity of producing works of art based on custom and public interests and considering traditional performing arts; creation of a situation in which private section invests; supporting performing art groups financially to put them out of government control, creating a healthy and open competitive atmosphere among the formal and informal art groups; granting permission to display without objection; integration of both traditional and modern performances and presenting mutual works between artists of both styles.

INTRODUCTIONIncrease in global competition, higher awareness of consumers and many other issues have made branding destinations an important and influential strategy in the field of tourism marketing. Due to the development of tourism in rural areas, attention to brand making and brand management with respect to the potentials of these destinations can influence the attraction of more tourists and provide better services and better customer trust.
THEORITICAL FRAMWORKAccording to Lane (1994) rural tourism is the tourism which occurs in the country side. Some rural areas encompass geo-heritage and have high potential for promoting geo-tourism. Rural geo-tourism is nature tourism and takes place in the countryside which includes unique geological and geomorphological landscapes. In these villages, making and managing a geo-brand not only introduces geo-heritage of the territory as tourist attraction but also promotes local economy. Nowadays, brand is an important factor in influencing tourists in choosing a destination and the role of branding in marketing purposes is very important.
METHODOLOGYThis study was conducted in Isfahan Province (Mesr and Garme villages). This study has three major 1) to identify the important parameters in making and managing of a rural tourism brand in geotourism destinations; 2) to identify the challenges and problems of the failure of a rural tourism brand; and 3) to propose a rural geo-tourism brand for villages of Isfahan province which are known as desert tourism destinations. In order to achieve these goals, Delphi method was used to identify the key components in making and managing a rural tourism brand in geo-tourism destinations. Data were gathered through an interview and two questionnaires. Fifteen experts filled in the forms and data were collected through snowball sampling method. Then, the qualitative data were analyzed through coding method and the quantitative data were analyzed through SPSS software.
DISCUSSIONAs previously mentioned, identifying the challenges and problems of the failure of a rural tourism brand is one of the objectives of the present research. In this regard, the researchers designed an interview form whose first question inquired the challenges and problems. The data were analyzed through qualitative method (using open coding procedure) and 21 codes were identified. The second question investigated the idea of experts about designing a geo-brand and seven codes were determined. Lastly, the third question explored key parameters for making and managing a rural tourism brand for a geo-tourism destination and 11 codes for making and 15 codes for managing a brand were identified. In the next step, the first questionnaire was designed and the responses were made on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5 and the data was analyzed by using SPSS tools (Binomial test). Further analysis of the data from the second questionnaire and telephone questionnaire illustrated that experts reached a consensus on 9 key parameters in making and 10 key parameters in rural tourism brand management.
CONCLUSIONThe results identified nine key parameters in making and ten key components in managing a tourism brand in rural areas with potential in geo-tourism. Furthermore, lack of marketing, mismanagement, lack of support from the local community and the public sector, lack of educational program for local people, the lack of using specific symbols of the region, lack of attention to cultural factors, lack of brand fits with the niche tourism of the region, lack of implementation of the brand and its applications correctly, lack of creativity in branding, lack of attention to the local community, misidentification of resources, lack of planning for identification of investment opportunities, tourism destination branding complexity, lack of attention to the economic benefits of a brand for the region, creating new experience for tourists, lack of tourism experts, lack of standardization of services and infrastructure, non-competitive destination, weakness of private sector investment in tourism development planning, the attention of tourism on intangible products and interdisciplinary have been the challenges faced in branding. Finally, it can be said that geo-tourism can be a tool for making brand in Mesr and Garme villages. In the nest step according to idea of experts a geo-brand was proposed for the villages.