جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه « گردشگری مذهبی » در نشریات گروه « مدیریت »

The importance of the tourism industry and its role in economic, cultural and social growth and development has caused local, regional and national managers and planners all over the world to try and plan for its expansion. Therefore, developing countries have always paid particular attention to the development of tourism. Iran also has a good perspective in this field, especially in the field of religious tourism, due to its rich history of civilization and culture and significant tourism capacities. However, despite the existence of about nine thousand sacred religious places in the country, religious tourism in Iran still lacks a specialized and centralized organization. Among the factors influencing the development of religious tourism, besides having efficient management and a suitable platform, is the management of perceptions and the participation of local and neighboring stakeholders in tourism development programs. In fact, the positive perception of local stakeholders about the effects of tourism can be one of the obvious factors influencing the sustainability of tourism development. Because the perceptions of local stakeholders, including the perceived administrative barriers, are related to how they react to the disturbances caused by the rapid development of tourism. In addition, the development of religious tourism will not be achieved without the participation and support of local and neighboring stakeholders. Therefore, in this research, the role of perceived administrative barriers in the process of religious tourism development has been studied based on the social participation of tourism beneficiaries in Mashhad city.

This research is applied and quantitative in terms of purpose and nature, respectively. In addition, in terms of data collection, the current research is a descriptive type that was conducted in the field. The statistical population of the research includes all the local stakeholders of tourism in Mashhad city, including cultural and religious activists, hoteliers, businessmen, and transport industry activists in the first half of 2022, and the statistical sample is 385 of them, using the available sampling method are selected. In this research, library and field methods were used to collect information. The research questionnaire consists of two main parts. In the first part, the demographic information of the statistical sample and in the second part, the questions related to the research variables, including perceived managerial obstacles in the tourism community (5 questions), social participation of tourism beneficiaries (3 questions), and support of tourism beneficiaries. Religious (3 questions) is presented based on related research, especially the research of Wang et al. (2021). The validity of the questionnaire has been checked and confirmed using the methods of content validity and construct validity and its reliability using the three methods of Cronbach's alpha, composite reliability and reliability of indicators. In order to analyze data and test hypotheses, inferential statistics tests, including the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test in SPSS software and the partial least squares method in PLS software, have been used.

In this research, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to examine the type of data distribution related to the research sample. The results of this test showed that the data related to the research variables do not have a normal distribution. Therefore, due to the non-normality of the data, SmartPLS 3 structural equation software was exerted to analyze the data. The partial least squares method was used to check the research hypotheses and evaluate the structural model. Based on the analysis, the significant numbers related to the parameters of the model, including the factor loading and its errors, are significant. Because their significant number is greater than the absolute value of 1.96, the significant relationship between the variables of the model is confirmed. Also, examining the coefficients of the structural path showed that the coefficient of influence of the variable of social participation of tourism beneficiaries on the support of tourism beneficiaries is 0.623. The positive value of this number indicates the direct effect of the variable of social participation of tourism beneficiaries on the support of the neighbors for the development of religious tourism in Mashhad. In addition, the coefficient of influence of the variable of social participation of tourism beneficiaries on perceived administrative barriers in the tourism community is -0.382, and the negative value of this value indicates the inverse effect of the variable of social participation of tourism beneficiaries on perceived administrative barriers in the tourism community. In addition, the coefficient of influence of the perceived administrative barriers variable in the tourism community on the support of tourism beneficiaries is -0.411, and due to the negativity of this coefficient, the variable of perceived administrative barriers has an inverse effect on support of the neighbors for the development of religious tourism in Mashhad. Therefore, the research hypotheses are accepted.

The results of the data analysis showed that the social participation of tourism beneficiaries has a positive and significant effect on the support of neighbors for the development of religious tourism in Mashhad and a negative and significant effect on their perceived administrative barriers. In addition, the perceived administrative barriers have a negative and significant effect on neighbors' support for the development of religious tourism in Mashhad. Besides, based on the statistical analysis, perceived administrative barriers in the tourism community have a mediating effect between the social participation of the tourism beneficiaries and the support of the neighbors for the development of religious tourism in Mashhad. The findings of the research are in harmony with the results of related studies and confirm them. Therefore, managers and officials of tourism and activists of this area in Mashhad city should pay special attention to these factors and, according to the status of these variables and the relationship between them, more suitable strategies and policies in order to improve the quality and quantity of religious tourism to attract more tourists and develop religious tourism, present and implement, which can ultimately affect the sustainable development of tourism in this region.

Today, the issue of safety in tourist destinations and residences is considered as a competitive factor and plays a significant role in the economy of cities and countries. Now, tourism is referred to as a booming phenomenon and one of the most important industries in the world, which plays a significant role in the identity of the country. The development of tourism and human desire for special tourism destinations has led to a variety of tourism, such as religious, urban, rural, health and sports tourism. This study intends to investigate fires and urban accidents to explain the incidents related to the pilgrims of Mashhad - the most important pilgrimage city in the country. For this purpose, the required data was extracted from the fire and accident log registration system and the data was analyzed by a data mining method based on SQL Server software. Accordingly, the identified incidents were primarily related to human issues such as improper use of electrical appliance systems, cigarette butts and children playing with matches and incendiary devices, And then there are accidents due to technical reasons, such as elevator accidents and people being trapped, gas leaks, lack of alarm devices and smoke, faulty signs or difficult access to firefighting equipment Gas leaks, lack of alarms and smoke, faulty signs or difficult access to firefighting equipment have occurred. In this article, practical suggestions are presented to increase the safety of tourism in the holy city of Mashhad. The need to improve safety knowledge, empower citizens and strict monitoring actions by the responsible agencies and organizations to raise the level of safety standards for tourists and pilgrims, are among the results obtained.

Adequate comprehension of the challenges and influential elements of the religious tourism sector is necessary for its positive development. In this regard, the present research was conducted to present a model that can simulate the development of religious tourism in Yazd province by considering the influential factors. A mixed method (qualitative and quantitative) was carried out in this study, and the research method was applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of nature. The statistical population of this research included 12 theoretical and experimental experts. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data with non-random and purposeful sampling. In the qualitative section, the main and sub-categories of religious tourism development in Yazd province were identified using the thematic analysis method. Then, in the quantitative part, the identified influential factors were prioritized using the interpretive structural modeling (ISM) method. Finally, the criteria obtained from the qualitative research analysis were simulated using the agent-based modeling (ABM) method. Based on the research results, 35 initial codes, 12 sub-themes, and six main themes (religious tourism policies, economic, infrastructure, environmental empowerment, marketing, and cultural) were identified. Religious tourism policies were recognized as the most influential factor. Also, the results showed that at the end of the simulation period, the rate of religious tourism development in Yazd Province had reached 70%. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that tourism managers give particular attention to the influential factors that have been identified as having a significant impact on the development of religious tourism.

Religious tourism, a branch of cultural tourism, can stimulate development, especially in rural areas. This research was conducted to conceptualize a religious tourism development model emphasizing the holy sites of Kermanshah province. The research approach was of qualitative and Grounded Theory type; the research sample comprised experts in the field of religious tourism. Accordingly, 16 semi-structured and in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants using the purposeful sampling method. The four criteria of Lincoln and Guba, including credibility, transferability, reliability, and verifiability, were used to measure the validity and comply with the qualitative research features, validation, accuracy, and robustness of the data. The reliability of the research was also assessed using the test-retest reliability method, with 77% reliability. Strauss and Corbin’s systematic approach analyzed data. Through three open, central, and selective coding procedures, the content analysis results yielded 71 concepts, 14 sub-categories, and six main categories. Finally, the paradigmatic religious tourism development model was presented, in which the development of religious tourism was chosen as the central phenomenon affected by the causal conditions of the research. Contextual and intervening conditions and the central phenomenon formed religious tourism development strategies, and economic, cultural, and social development outcomes were obtained. In the end, practical suggestions were presented for developing religious tourism in Kermanshah province.

Although the research on religious tourism experiences has increased in recent years, and given that most of the studies have been focused on the spiritual aspect of these experiences, there still needs to be more knowledge about the multiple attributes of religious tourists’ experiences. Therefore, the current study aims to provide an “integrated and multifaceted conceptual framework of religious tourists’ experiences” using a systematic literature review and deductive thematic analysis. The search was conducted on June 12, 2023. The PRISMA procedure identified fifty-three relevant articles ranging from 2006 to 2022. Based on the findings, the multifaceted religious tourists’ experiences can include cognitive, emotional, physical, relational, recovery, spiritual, transformative, and behavioral facets. The findings can extend the literature and benefit managers, planners, and destination marketing organizations in designing religious tourism experiences to enhance visitors’ satisfaction and destination competitiveness.

Considering the situation of Mashhad city, the existence of an integrated plan and program, a large project with a single vision for the development of this city, and attention to the most important element of the development of this city, namely religious tourism, seems necessary. Therefore, the present study seeks to investigate and evaluate the influential factors on religious tourism status in Mashhad. In the present study, the descriptive-analytical method has been used in terms of applied purpose and according to the nature of the research. The data collection method was by completing a questionnaire by experts and experts. The statistical population in the present study, according to the determination of organizations related to the research subject, five senior managers from each organization were considered as a statistical sample, for which a total of 50 people were selected and a non-probabilistic sampling method. A quota with a pre-determined number of samples and experts was used. The study's findings concerning the factors affecting religious tourism in Mashhad show that the variable in the field of tourism management with an average (3.96) has the highest score. Then the physical-infrastructural and economic variables have a higher average (3.74). The socio-cultural variable was in the last rank compared to the other three, with an average of 3.64. Also, in the approved structural model, it was found that the field of tourism management, with a coefficient of 0.86, has had the greatest impact on the development of religious tourism in Mashhad.

Having a long-standing tradition in the Iranian and Shiite communities, pilgrimage and religious travels have considerably increased throughout the last two decades with a boom in tourism. In this regard, many studies have been carried out on different aspects of pilgrimage, addressing both managerial aspects of the pilgrimage destinations and the experiences reported by the pilgrims. However, while several review articles have already been published in English-language journals on pilgrimage studies, no such article could be found in the Iranian -Persian academic journals concerning pilgrimage and religious trips made in Iran. Therefore, this article sought to examine the formal and contentual features of the Persian scientific-research papers on pilgrimage and religious tourism published in Iranian Journals, trying to identify the research gaps in this regard. To this end, the relevant articles published from 2003 to 2021 in Iranian journals accredited by Iran’s Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology using a systematic review and content analysis method. Then, the features of the collected papers were examined in terms of spatial distribution, frequency, geographical distribution, authors’ characteristics (gender, frequency, and field of study), and methodology (research method, data sources, data collection tools, observation unit, sampling method, and statistical tests). Finally, the papers were categorized in terms of their relationship with the Parsons’ social systems, introducing the over-researched and under-researched areas and the research gaps in the Iranian pilgrimage and religious tourism studies so that new ideas and research topics be offered for novel studies and the development of knowledge in this regard.

Given that religious tourism has become a topic of interest not only among religious followers and pilgrims but also among ordinary tourists, researchers in this field have taken notice. The aim of this study is to examine the global trend of research on religious tourism, as well as the current and future research directions in this area. To this end, a review of existing literature on religious tourism was conducted using bibliometric and visualization methods. After applying input and output criteria, a total of 412 articles were extracted from the Web of Science database and analyzed using VOS viewer software. The findings indicate an upward quantitative trend in publication and citation rates, with the highest number of published papers occurring in 2021 and the highest number of citations in 2022. Additionally, descriptive data revealed the most frequently cited articles, researchers, journals, and universities. Analysis of keyword co-occurrence demonstrated that the most commonly occurring words included religious tourism, pilgrimage, tourism, and spiritual tourism. Findings also indicate that much of the research in this field has focused on conceptualizing and distinguishing between religious and pilgrimage tourism and understanding travelers' motivations in a religious context. Moving forward, future studies in this area should consider experiential marketing and tourist experience, as well as Service-Dominant Logic and value co-creation theories.

Undoubtedly, religious tourism has become a significant area in tourism sector. In contemporary times, tourists visit religious sites not only for spiritual reasons but also in pursuit of cultural and historical significance (Kim et al., 2020; Romanelli et al., 2021). Notably, within religious and pilgrimage tourism, both spiritual and non-spiritual elements coexist, making it arduous to differentiate between the two (Griffin, 2007). While pilgrimage tourism involves performing religious rituals in sacred places with the primary intention of worship, religious tourism does not necessarily require adherence to specific religious beliefs or practices (Kujawa, 2017). In addition to tourism activists, academics have also shown interest in this type of tourism, and many articles, books, and articles have been published related to this topic. In spite of that, to date, no bibliometric investigation has been conducted on religious tourism. Therefore, this research aims to undertake a bibliometric review of religious tourism to ascertain past and future research trends and identify areas requiring further exploration.
 

The present research is characterized as a descriptive-analytical study that utilizes bibliometric analysis to examine a specific research field. The use of bibliometric analysis as a quantitative method in this research is well-established in academic literature and enables scholars to gain valuable insights into various aspects of a research field. The choice of the Web of Science database was made due to its established reputation as a reliable and standardized source for bibliometric analysis. After applying filters and selecting appropriate keywords, a total number of 412 articles were identified and subjected to further analysis. In this regard, the complete bibliometric information of these studies, including their title, abstract, organizational affiliation, and sources, were extracted from the database and subsequently analyzed using VOS Viewer software. This methodology aims to identify the structures and trends within the specified research topic, thereby enhancing our understanding of the subject matter.

The results of the investigation indicate an upward trend in the quantitative publication and citation rates of religious tourism research. The year 2021 had the highest number of publications, with 52 studies, while the peak for citations was observed in 2022, with 967 citations. Moreover, the most highly cited article, author, journal, country, and university were identified. Accordingly, "Forms of Religious Tourism" recognized as the most cited article, "Rinschede, G" recognized as the most cited author, "Annals of Tourism Research" recognized as the most cited journal, "Australia" recognized as the most cited country and "University of Haifa" recognized as the most cited university in this field. After conducting a co-authorship analysis, the study was able to identify eight clusters of active countries that have contributed significantly to knowledge production in the field of religious tourism research. This analysis provides valuable insights into the collaborative networks and patterns of international cooperation among researchers working on religious tourism. Furthermore, the keyword co-occurrence analysis revealed that "Pilgrimage," "Tourism," and "Spiritual tourism" were the most commonly used terms in religious tourism research.

The increase in the number of articles and citations pertaining to religious tourism signifies its growing importance as an academic field and highlights the attention it has garnered from researchers. Among the topics that have recently received attention in this field, the experience of religious tourists and pilgrims is one such area that is still in its nascent stages, as corroborated by the Keywords Co-occurrence analysis. Previous studies have primarily focused on the trip experience, whereas a comprehensive understanding of the tourist's experience necessitates an examination of all three phases, namely before, during, and after the trip. This highlights the dynamic nature of the tourist experience. By comparing developments in tourism research with those in religious tourism, research gaps can be identified. Experiential marketing and Service-dominant logic-related theories are areas that require further exploration in religious tourism, as they have yet to receive much attention in this field.

The tourism industry is one of the largest and most profitable economic sectors in the world, tourism creates high added value, has become one of the largest and fastest growing economic sectors in the world in the division of the most important sources of income in the world, religious tourism As one of the most important branches of the tourism industry, it is one of the most lucrative sectors of this industry in the world. Using the science of futures research, the present study aims to provide a clear view of the future of religious tourism in Mashhad to planners and tourists. In this study, by studying the literature and interviewing tourism industry experts, the effective factors were identified and then using the interaction analysis approach, the data were entered into Mic Mac software and four key factors affecting the future of religious tourism in Mashhad were identified. Security and tranquility, a positive image of the destination, travel expenses and tourist satisfaction were selected from nineteen influential factors. In the next step, to develop the scenario, four key effective factors were determined by the experts by entering the uncertainty scenarios in the questionnaire into the script wizard software and the most compatible scenarios were identified. After identifying the scenarios and consulting with experts, security, tranquility and travel costs were selected to develop the scenarios and according to the conditions, the future of religious tourism in Mashhad was presented in the form of four scenarios based on the key factors in each scenario

data-based Future studies is one of the guides and pathfinders for managers and decision makers in making decisions. Today, forethought,, prediction and forecasting is one of the key areas of management and is highly necessary and important. In this research, for this purpose, using the discrete Markov gray model, the amount of demand for Arbaeen pilgrimage tourism by Iranian pilgrims in the target area has been predicted. The tourism industry is one of the key industries of today's societies. One of the key branches of this industry on a global scale is a branch called tourism of religious places, which is categorized and researched in religious thought under the specific title of pilgrimage, and in general, it is a form and part of tourism that somehow visits It is related to one of the holy places and usually the shrines and tombs of religious elders. One of the most important places of pilgrimage in the world is the holy city of Karbala, which is the shrine of the third Imam of the Shiites, Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) and his brother, Abbas bin Ali (peace be upon him). Every year, on the 40th day of his martyrdom (Day of Arbaeen), a large number of pilgrims walk the distance from Najaf to Karbala. In recent years and after the fall of the Baath regime dictatorship in Iraq, it has become possible for a large number of people to attend this pilgrimage ceremony. For several years, the Corona epidemic affected the growing trend of Arbaeen pilgrims, but with the resumption of the Arbaeen pilgrimage, it is natural that the governments related to this event should make more detailed plans and designs to hold this ceremony more magnificently.

Tourism and religion have always been inextricably linked. This study was conducted with the aim of identifying the mental patterns of tourists in religious tourism destinations in the city of Mashhad and is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive in terms of method. In this research, Q methodology has been used to identify mental patterns. The statistical population of the study was tourists who have experienced travel to the holy city of Mashhad at least once. The sampling method was purposeful. The data obtained from the participation of 25 religious tourists in Mashhad were analyzed using Q factor analysis with SPSS 22.0 software. The findings of this study have identified seven mental types for the meaning of religious tourism: 1) Spiritualists, 2) Pacifists, 3) Belongers, 4) Liberators, 5) Seekers, 6) Subjectivists & 7) Empiricists.

This descriptive-analytical study sought to investigate the socio-economic impacts of religious tourism on the spatial development of Qom province, using a researcher-developed questionnaire designed via Analytical Hierarchy Process to collect its required data. To this end, the required criteria were developed at two levels: the economic level comprising of five sub-criteria, including "Increase in employment, increase in incomes, reduction in inflation, increase in regional production", and: private sector participation", and the social level comprising three sub-criteria, including "Increasing the security, increasing the social culture, improving services and infrastructure". The results of surveying the priority of these criteria indicated the high impact of the economic element of tourism on the spatial development of Qom province. According to experts, the more economic power the people have, the better its impact would be on the social and environmental sectors of the society. Also, the criteria were also evaluated and prioritized within the study area that formed different districts of Qom province. Accordingly, it was found that the spatial development of the central district of the province (Qom city) was mostly influenced by religious tourism in terms of 5 criteria out of the 8 criteria identified in the study, suggesting that Qom, as the hub of religious tourism of the province, outweighs other parts of the province in terms of development, which may cause some problems in the future for the development of tourism in Qom province.

Religious tourism has long been welcomed by many tourists and individuals, creating changes in the host community's quality of life through changing human interactions. Therefore, this descriptive survey study sought to identify and rank the factors involved in the local community's quality of life in Shiraz as a religious tourism destination using the fuzzy cognitive mapping approach. To this end, two types of statistical population groups were used. The first group comprised of experts in the field of religious tourism in Shiraz who were selected judiciously and purposefully to adjust and determine the intended factors. Then, a matrix questionnaire was administered to the second group which comprised thirty indigenous workers in the field of religious tourism. Then, the data and scenarios were analyzed using the fuzzy cognitive mapping technique, and the research model was designed using social network analysis. The results showed that there are several factors involved in improving the local community's quality of life in Shiraz, including increasing welfare, increasing investments, and a sense of belonging among residents and tourists, respectively.

Religious tourism is one of the five main branches of tourism according to the World Trade Organization. The popularity of pilgrimage has increased in recent decades, and religious tourism has been an important part of the dynamics of the world tourism economy. Therefore, this applied descriptive-survey study sought to segment and determine the psychological-demographic and behavioral profile of Karbala pilgrims attending the annual Arbaeen rituals. The statistical population of the study comprised of the pilgrims of Karbala who have traveled through the borders of Khuzestan province to attend the Arbaeen rituals. The neural network algorithm was used to analyze the data via self-organizing maps. The study's findings indicated that there were three different groups of pilgrims with different travel motives, who were categorized as a) being more tourist than a pilgrim (tourist pilgrim), b) being more pilgrim than a tourist (pilgrim tourist), and c) pilgrims. These three groups of tourists were named after leisureists, enthusiasts of various activities, and religious people, suggesting that each type of pilgrim had its own psychological, demographic, and behavioral characteristics. Therefore, marketing strategies for developing tourism activities should be set based on the characteristics of each type of tourist.

the host community. Due to the increasing diversity of tourism, recognizing the effects of various types of tourism on the host community and understanding the differences and similarities between their effects is a necessity of planning and informed and normative management of tourism. This study aims to analyze the socio-cultural effects of religious and historical tourism in the cities of Qom and Isfahan to understand the differences and similarities. The research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method, which has been done as a survey. The statistical population of the study was the residents of Qom and Isfahan where 384 people were selected by cluster sampling. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire and U-Mann-Whitney test was used to analyze the data and Friedman test was used to prioritize their socio-cultural effects. The results show that in terms of social effects, tourism has had the greatest impact on social deviations in Qom and on the lifestyle of the host community in Isfahan. There was no significant difference between the two societies in terms of cultural indicators.

Iran has a special capability in the development of tourism services due to its rich environmental resources and the use of several thousand years of historical-cultural support, but due to the single-product economy based on oil revenues, it has prevented attention to this part of the country's economy. Meanwhile, the country, with its religious cities such as Mashhad, Qom, Shahr-e-Rey, etc., is one of the important centers for attracting religious tourism, which annually attracts countless religious tourists with the aim of visiting holy places.  Despite religious attractions, this type of tourism faces problems such as lack of planning. Therefore, comprehensive planning is needed to develop coordinated strategies for organizational development that are consistent with predictable and unpredictable future conditions and requirements and also it is essential in order to better manage tourism development, planning and providing appropriate strategies at all levels. Because experience has shown that wherever tourism develops randomly and without specific planning and strategy, it creates many environmental and social problems, and in the long-time, the problems of tourism outweigh the benefits. Also, unplanned tourism destinations cannot compete effectively with planned ones. Meanwhile, Rezvanshahr city with its holy places and religious monuments and buildings such as the White Mosque in terms of historical antiquity, Aq Mosque and Sultan Barzkuh in terms of up-country location, Gharib-Bandeh and Seyyed Sharaf al-Din tomb and having special and original religious ceremonies of Ta’zieh in the days of Tasu'a and Ashura have long been considered by religious tourists, especially tourists in the northern region of the country. Therefore, due to the existence of tourism attractions in this city, it has the potential to become one of the poles of religious tourism (at least at the regional level).

The present study is an applied research in terms of purpose and also descriptive-analytical one in aspects of method. The paradigm of the present research is quantitative and qualitative. The information and data has been collected in the form of field, library and documentary. In such a way that studies related to theoretical foundations have been done in a documentary way and a questionnaire tool has been used for data related to the findings. Data collection is based on the Delphi method. The statistical population of the study is a group of experts. As a sample, 20 people who have studied in the field of tourism and are familiar with the urban environment of Guilan province were selected as the statistical sample size. Then, the designed questionnaire was provided to the statistical sample of the research in order to assess its validity. Then, for reliability, it was evaluated by Cronbach's alpha test, which was equal to 0.832 and was confirmed. Meta-SWOT software was exerted to analyze the findings.

All the inputs of this research are based on objectives such as introducing the religious attractions of Rezvanshahr city at the provincial, regional and national levels, increasing the presence of religious tourists, developing religious tourism, and economic prosperity of the region. in order to weight these goals, the opinions of a group of experts have been used and the results have been entered in Meta-SWOT software. Then, resources and capabilities were identified and evaluated, and according to them, the existing competitors in the region were obtained. And it was found that the five cities of Rasht, Shaft, Someh Sara, Amlash and Langarud are the main competitors in the region for the city of Rezvanshahr. Based on this information, a competitive map was drawn. After these steps, with the help of expert opinions, strategies for the development of religious tourism have been presented. After weighing and drawing a strategic plan, it was determined that the establishment of tourism camps and villages with tourism and recreational facilities on the outskirts of the religious place of Sultan Barzkuh, the establishment of tourism residential camps on the marginal lands of the Chafroud and Shafaroud rivers in front of religious places of Sheikh Kamel Naqshbandi and Agha Mohammad Shafie, providing low-fee banking facilities to interested investors in creating tourism spaces in the up-country religious areas (Sultan Barzkuh, Aq Mosque Rineh) and foothill areas (Sheikh Abolmaali), information through preparation broadcasting documentaries, maps and brochures, specialized magazines, publications and official sites for interested tourists in visiting religious and historical monuments, renovation of the old places of White and Aq Mosque are the most important factors as the attractions of religious tourism.

The results show that the resources and capabilities of Rezvanshahr city have different weights. As the fame of holding special religious ceremonies in shrines such as mourning and Ta’zieh ceremonies on the day of Ta’soa in Hazrat Seyyed Sharaf al-Din (Darsara) tomb, the existence of religious places in the beautiful landscapes of up-country and mountainous areas, foothills and plains , holding weekly markets in Rezvanshahr, Pareh-e-Sar and Chouka as the economic and cultural symbol of the region, special cultural attractions of different regions such as the customs and livelihood of the Gilakis, Talyshs and Turks, the existence of historical monuments and cultural sites such as the old mosques of White Mosque along the Dinachal River and the ancient cemetery of Mianroud and Vaskeh are the most important resources and capabilities of Rezvanshahr city for tourism development, respectively.

The aim of this paper is to identify and rank indices as well as sub-indices influence Religious tourism in Qom province by using of DEMATEL and Structural Equation Modeling in order to provide the competitive model. Aiming at providing officials and policymakers of tourism industry in Qom province with understanding and applied knowledge in relation to identification of indices influencing tourism competitiveness, this research is an applied one objectively and a descriptive_ survey one in terms of data collection method. In this research, initially, (sub) indices of competitiveness of tourism industry are evaluated by studying the research literature and surveying experts. In order of finalize indices of competitiveness of travel and tourism in Qom province، 35 academic and executive experts in the field of tourism in Qom province were surveyed. Using DEMATEL technique, next, internal and causal relationships among these indices were identified. Finally; Structural Equation were modeled by providing the model obtained from internal relationships among variables with DEMATEL technique and by testing the model in software environment. Research results indicate that tourism policies as well as cultural and natural resources are the most influential factors in increasing competiveness of tourism industry in Qom province.

Religious tourism is one of the most common forms of tourism in the world, and tourism industry experts believe that in terms of Iran's culturally-specific religious status, among other countries, The purpose of the present study is to model the factors influencing the development of religious tourism in Iran with a future research approach and designing the relationship between these factors. The research method is descriptive-analytical. Content analysis method was used to identify the effective factors of religious tourism development. In the interpretive structural modeling section, expert opinions of tourism experts and research centers have been used through the Delphi method. Data were collected through interviews and a two-way questionnaire and face validity was used to assess the validity of the questionnaire. The relationships between the factors affecting the development of religious tourism in Iran have been determined using integrated analytical structural modeling (ISM) and analyzed by MICMAC analysis. Effectiveness and effectiveness on other factors were identified and classified. The findings of the study showed that planning, policy-making and full oversight of the religious tourism industry with the influence of the 8 most influential factors as well as the effective factors of the government's non-intervention in the programs of privatization and establishment of tourism academic discipline. Religion has the least influence with the power of influence 2.

Today, the tourism industry has been considered as one of the important sources of income in the global economy. Religious tourism is one of the divisions of the tourism industry in which the Muslim world especially in Iran is important. Qom- a city with religious, cultural, historical, and natural capabilities- as the Incarnational Religious Base of Shiism known as one of the most important pilgrimage centers in the Muslim world. Every year, many tourists from inside and outside the country travel to this city. Due to the religious importance of this city, the most important part of the pilgrims of this city is religious tourists. A high volume of tourists requires proper infrastructure and facilities for settling, accommodating, and spending leisure time. The present research according to purpose is applied one, in terms of the method is descriptive, and data have been collected based on desk resources. to identify the appropriate areas for the construction of leisure and recreational camps and respond to the needs of pilgrims and tourists in this city, Firstly, criteria and sub-criteria weighting is done by using the hierarchy model; finally, appropriate areas, area 3, 2, 8, and 4, at the regional level are introduced by using GIS

According to the Islamic culture and civilization, tourism is deeply linked to Islamic thought and belief. It is one of the most profitable industries in the international fields and an important way for producing income and getting out of economic challenges of the local, national, regional, and international situations. Because the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS) is placed in Mashhad, it has a substantial capacity to attract religious tourists; yet, in recent decades, the number of pilgrims and tourists has increased, but their average stay in the city has decreased. Accordingly, the main purpose of this study is to identify the factors affecting the attraction and retention of religious tourists in Mashhad metropolis. In order to achieve this goal, the qualitative research method and grounded theory of Glaser’s approach have been employed. In this regard, the opinion of experts on the effective factors on attracting and retaining religious tourists in Mashhad metropolis were collected by semi-structured interviews. Through grounded method, they were categorized into open, selective and theoretical codes inferred from the identified concepts. The results of twelve interviews and reviewing and interpreting the data, led the researchers to 37 initial identifiers in the form of twelve sub-categories in five main categories including the characteristics of the destinations of the tourists and host community, tourist destination management, the characteristics and needs of pilgrims or religious tourists and the features of their travelling. Finally, the model of factors affecting the attraction and retention of religious tourists in Mashhad metropolis was presented, and the relations among categories were explained.